


Blocking My Heart

by Mistress Drossel Keinz (Code_Archangel_exe)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Confessions, Eventual Romance, F/M, First Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Japanese-American Character, Love Confessions, Romance, Volleyball, Volleyball Dorks in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:49:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23534821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Code_Archangel_exe/pseuds/Mistress%20Drossel%20Keinz
Summary: You and Tsukki were childhood friends, but when you moved away in grade school everything changed. Now you're back, and you're both attending Karasuno High. Will things ever go back to how they were? Or will you and Tsukishima fall in love trying to set things straight..
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei & Reader, Tsukishima Kei/Reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 57





	1. Welcome Back

It was Monday morning and class was just about to start. It was ___'s first day back in town after moving away at the end of grade school and she was attending Karasuno High School. She waited in the hallway before the teacher finally brought her in to introduce herself. "Class, today we have a new transfer student. Please meet ___ ___." ___ wrote her name on the chalkboard and bowed. "My name is ___ ___, but please, just call me ___. I just moved back to Japan from living overseas and it's a pleasure to meet you all!" She said happily.

"Woah, she's pretty hot!" Some boy whispered, "Think if I asked her out she'd say yes?" "No way man! She's totally out of you're league!" "Wow! She's so pretty!" another girl whispered, "I bet she's half American, just look at her skin!" "I'd tap that," another boy whispered. "Yeah, you wish!"

"Alright class, settle down. ___ you can take a seat over there next to Tsukkishima," the teacher said pointing. 'Tsukkishima?' She thought. 'My Tsukkishima?!' She looked over. 'It IS my Tsukkishima!' She yelled out. "Hey Tsukkishima! Miss me?" "The new girl knows Tsukkishima?" Somebody whispered, "No way! Why would someone so hot talk to a guy like him! It must be some mistake.."

"Heya Tsukki! Or should I say Kei?" ___ asked taking her seat next to him. "Don't call me that." Tsukkishima said sharply. "Why not? I love your name! Kei.. Kei.. It has a nice ring to it. Way better than boring old ___." "I said don't call me that!" Tsukkishima said once again. "Just because we went to the same school before doesn't make us friends." "But we used to play together all the time when we were kids! You, me, and Yamaguchi.. Why is it any different now? I'm back! To stay this time!" "It just.. is, okay? Now shh! Class is about to start." "Fine, fine.. I'll be quiet for now, ya big nerd. You could at least welcome me back you know.." "Tsk.." 

'How did things change?' ___ thought. 'We used to be so close..' 

She recounted the first time they had met.

_It was ___'s first day in elementary school after moving to Japan and she was playing on the playground alone when a group of her classmates came up to her. "Look, it's the weird half-American girl playing all by herself!" One boy sneered. "I bet she doesn't even speak Japanese!" "Yeah, I bet she's stupid! She's American after all!" The other boy sneered. The third boy pushed her to her knees. "Go back to America! We don't want you here!" He said as he kicked sand at her._

_"I-I can speak Japanese just fine," ___ said holding back tears. "Please just leave me alone.." "And why should we do that?" The first boy sneered. "We just wanna 'play' with you for a bit is all." He kicked some more sand on her. "Please stop," she whispered. "What? I can't hear you!" The second boy said kicking some sand._

_"She said stop." another boy said. She looked up. There was a tall boy standing there looking menacingly down on them. Another shorter boy was standing behind him. "Or what?" the third boy said staring up at him. "Or I'll have to do something about it." The taller boy said. "L-Lets get out of here," the first boy said. "Y-Yeah, she isn't worth our time." the second boy said. The third boy ran after them._

_The shorter boy stepped out from behind the taller boy and held out his hand to her to help her up. She gladly took it, standing up with his help as she dusted the sand off of her skirt. "Thank you for saving me," She said to the taller boy. "Don't mention it." He said. "My name's Yamaguchi, and this is Tsukki!" The shorter boy said. "Do you wanna be friends?"_

_"Sure thing!" ___ said happily. "It's nice to meet you Yamaguchi! You too Tsukki!" She said as she held out her hand. "It's Tsukkishima, not Tsukki," the taller boy corrected her. "Oh I see!" She smiled. "Then Tsukki is just your nickname. I'll call you Tsukki then!" Tsukkishima scoffed. "My name's ___! I just moved here from America!"_

_Yamaguchi shook her hand. "Nice to meet you ___! Wow, you're so pretty! Your skin is so pale!" He said. He let go of her hand. "Hehe, thanks!" ___ giggled. She then held out her hand to Tsukki. Tsukki just stared at her. "Go on Tsukki, shake her hand." Yamaguchi said nudging him. "I won't bite, promise." ___ said sticking her hand out further._

_Tsukkishima reluctantly took her hand and gave it a small shake before letting it go and wiping his hand on his pants. "Nice to meet you," he mumbled. "Tsukki is a great guy, he's just a little shy," Yamaguchi said smiling. "I'm sure you two will get along together in no time!" "I can't wait!" ___ said happily. "I wanna be friends with a hero like Tsukki who saves people on the playground!" "It's Tsukkishima," he muttered blushing. "I know," ___ said giggling. "But Tsukki is so much cuter!"_

_Day after day, the three would play together and talk until eventually all of them became great friends. Despite all odds, they became best friends at that, and she became especially close to Tsukkishima, until one day, something happened.. ___


	2. Moving Away

_  
"Hey ___, Did you decide what middle school you're going to yet?" Tsukkishima asked walking up to Yamaguchi and her. "You didn't tell him yet?" Yamaguchi asked. "Tell me what?" Tsukkishima asked confused. ___ frowned. "I was going to tell you tonight when you came over to dinner, but I guess now is as good as a time as any.." ___ said sadly. "I.. I'm not going to middle school here." She said sadly._

_"Are you going to the other middle school then? Well that's fine, even if we don't go to the same middle school we can still hang out sometime." Tsukki said shrugging. "No I- …" she took a deep breath. "I'm moving back to America next week.. I'll be going to middle school there." "Oh." Tsukki's back straightened and his face went sullen. "I.. gotta go. I can't make dinner tonight. Something came up." "Tsukki wait!" ___ called out, but Tsukkishima ran off._

_Tsukkishima avoided her all week, no matter how many times she went over to his house he refused to see her, and Yamaguchi couldn't get him to talk to her either._

_"So it's really happening huh? You're moving today?" Yamaguchi asked sullenly. "Yeah.. I'll be leaving in a few hours." She said sighing."I wish Tsukkishima would see me so that I could say goodbye.." "I tried to get him to see you, I really did!" Yamaguchi pleaded, "he just kept saying he doesn't want to see you. I think he's really hurt by you leaving."_

_"I wouldn't go if I could help it!" ___ said as she started to cry. "I don't wanna leave you and Tsukki either!" Yamaguchi pulled her into a hug. "I told him you were leaving soon. Hopefully he will come. I'm sure he will." He said as he patted her back. "Me too.." ___ silently prayed. 'Please let Tsukkishima come so that I can say goodbye!'_

_Just then ___'s father spoke up. "___ it's time to go, do you have all of your things?" "I put them in the trunk earlier," ___ said wiping her eyes. Yamaguchi let go of her and ___ headed towards the car. Just then, as if her prayers had been answered, she heard someone yell out._

_"Wait! Don't leave yet!" She turned around to see Tsukkishima running towards her. "Tsukki!" She yelled out running towards him and jumped into his arms. "Tsukki you big dummy! I almost left without seeing you! One more minute and I would've been gone!" She yelled. "I know, I know! It's just.. I thought if I didn't see you before you left then it wouldn't hurt as much, but I was wrong. I didn't know if I'll ever get the chance to see you again so I ran all the way here and.."_

_"I'm just glad you came." ___ said hugging him. "I'll miss you." She said. "I'll miss you too." He said back releasing her from his hug. "Here, I made you this." He reached into his pocket, taking out a little beaded bracelet. "It says 'Tsukkishima & ___' so you never forget me." He said sliding it onto her wrist. "It's a little big, but I thought maybe you'd grow-" _

_"I love it!" ___ said as she gave him another hug and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm never taking it off!" "You better not!" He said. "___, it's time to go now." ___'s father said once again. "I-I have to go now, thanks Tsukki, for the bracelet. I promise, I'll never take it off." "Wait! Will you ever be coming back to Japan? You moved here once from America already, does that mean you will again?" "I don't know," ___ said sadly. "But even if I have to wait until I'm an adult, I'll move back here and come see you again, I promise." "I'll wait for you," he said._

_"___, come on now! We gotta go!" Her dad yelled from the car. "Well, this is it," ___ said as she gave him one more hug. "Take care of Yamaguchi for me would ya?" "You got it," Tsukki said sniffing. She pulled away and gave Yamaguchi another hug. "Take care of Tsukkishima for me would you? He needs you. I'm not sure if he'll ever make anymore friends." "I will, I promise." Yamaguchi said squeezing her tight. "Goodbye." She said to them both as she climbed into the car. "Goodbye!" The both called out to her as they waved. And with that ___'s family drove off and moved back to America. ___


	3. Secrets Yamaguchi Knows

She was back now, just like she had promised, but it's like she didn't even know Tsukki anymore. 'I wonder if Yamaguchi goes here too then,' she thought. 'Maybe I'll look for him at lunch. For now, I'll focus on class.'

Time flew by as she focused on her studies, and before she knew it, it was lunch. And her question? It had been answered.

"Hey Tsukki! Are you ready to go?! Let's go eat lunch!" Yamaguchi yelled from the doorway. "Yamaguchi?" ___ turned to Tsukki before turning towards the door. "Yamaguchi!" She yelled jumping to her feet and running towards the door. "___?!" Yamaguchi yelled in surprise.

She jumped into his arms and he spun her around. "___! What are you doing here?! Look at you! You're all grown up now!" "So are you!" She said smiling, ruffling his hair. "You're tall now! I remember you used to be the same height as me!" "Yeah, I kinda shot up in middle school," he laughed, "But look at you! Why are you here?!" He asked. "I just transferred here today! I moved back to Japan this weekend! I'm here to stay permanently this time!" She cheered.

"So you already saw Tsukki then, huh?" Yamaguchi asked looking behind her at Tsukkishima, who was still sitting at his desk with headphones in. "Yeah, I got assigned the seat right next to him, but he doesn't seem happy that I'm back.." she frowned. "I tried talking to him, but he just kinda shut me down.." "Oh, I'm sure that's just Tsukki being Tsukki. I'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time." Yamaguchi walked over to Tsukkishima and poked him in the shoulder.

"Hey Tsukki! ___'s back! Aren't you happy?!" "Go away." Tsukkishima muttered. "Aww, come on! Don't be like that!" Yamaguchi said. "Let's all go eat lunch together, we can catch up!" "I'm not hungry.." Tsukkishima muttered. "Come on Tsukki! You know what Coach would say if you skipped lunch! He'd eat you alive!" "Fine.." Tsukkishima muttered grabbing his things. "Let's go."

"Coach?" ___ asked. "Oh yeah, you weren't here for that! Me and Tsukki kinda took up volleyball together in middle school and we've been playing ever since!" "Even with.. what happened with his brother?" ___ asked. "At first, it was nothing more than a game to him, but now he's gotten pretty serious about it! Guess what! Our team made it to nationals!" "No freaking way!" ___ cheered. "Congratulations!" ___ yelled patting him on the back. "I played a bit of volleyball in middle school myself actually, but our team wasn't any good. It's really hard to even make it to state in volleyball in America, little alone nationals.." ___ sighed.

"Oh really? Well America is so big anyways, it kinda makes sense that it'd be super difficult." "Yeah, my school was really small and we didn't even have a proper court. By the time we got to play on a proper court, our year was over before we knew it. We got beat, bad." "That kinda sounds like Hinata's backstory a bit." Yamaguchi said as they kept walking. "Hinata?" She asked. "Oh, Hinata is a member of our volleyball team. He's a first year like us." "Oh, I see." ___ said. "Hey, you should come to practice tonight and watch us play!" Yamaguchi suggested.

"Really?! Can I?!" "Sure thing!" Yamaguchi said. "I can introduce you to everyone!" "Sounds great!" ___ said. "I'm just a pinch server though," Yamaguchi said scratching the back of his neck. "Tsukkishima is the one you're gonna wanna watch." "What position does he play?" ___ asked. "Wanna take a guess?" "Middle blocker." ___ guessed without hesitation. "Bingo!" Yamaguchi said. "It just seems like it'd be his thing, crushing the dreams of spikers with intimidation and height." ___ said giggling. "Well, you're not wrong." Yamaguchi laughed.

"Wanna eat lunch outside?" Yamaguchi asked nudging Tsukkishima. "Sure." He said. They continued walking outside and sat down infront of the gym. "What's this gym for?" ___ asked. "This is the boys' volleyball gym." Yamaguchi said sitting down. "Wow! A whole gym just for you guys!" ___ gasped. "That's so cool! In my school all the sports teams had to share one crappy gym. We couldn't even practice everyday because we had to divide up the time with the basketball teams." "Yeah, she's all ours." Yamaguchi said patting the wall. "Just wait until you see the inside!"

Yamaguchi pulled out his lunch. "So where's your lunch ___?" He asked. "Oh crap!" ___ said. "In America everyone eats in the cafeteria so nobody really brings their own lunch, I totally forgot!" "Well, my lunch is kinda small, but I can share with you." Yamaguchi said offering her a bite. "Really? Tha-" "You can have mine." Tsukkishima said placing his lunch into her lap. "Really? Are you sure?" ___ asked, opening it carefully. "Yeah, I'm not really hungry. I'll just have something out of the vending machine." He said as he got up. "Thanks Ke- Tsukki! It looks great!" "Yeah, don't mention it." And with that he walked away towards the nearest vending machine.

"Woah! I didn't know Tsukki shared food!" Yamaguchi said surprised. "He's never done that before?" ___ asked. "Not as long as I've known him! I guess he still likes you after all!" "Maybe so," ___ said smiling. "I'm glad." Not long later, Tsukkishima returned and sat back down. "So Tsukki? You're a middle blocker?" ___ asked. "Yeah, what of it?" "I just think it's cool that you decided to play volleyball," ___ said. "I played a bit in America too, but our team was trash." "What position?" Tsukkishima asked. "I was the libero actually. I got some hella scars from digging up all those balls." She said rubbing her legs.

"Ah, you might like Nishinoya then." Yamaguchi said. "Nishinoya? Who's that?" "An annoying little ball of energy. Kind of like you." Tsukkishima said. "Tsukki! That's not nice!" ___ said punching him in the knee. "What? It's true." Tsukkishima said chewing his rice ball. "You know you love me." ___ said poking him in the knee. "I do not!" Tsukkishima said defensively, blushing a bit. "Do to!" ___ said. "Do not!" Tsukkishima said again, louder this time. "Do to!" ___ said poking his cheek. "We're best friends forever, and you know it! That's why you gave me this!"

___ held out her wrist and Tsukkishima froze. "See? It's the bracelet you gave me all those years ago! I told you I'd never take it off! I mean.. well the string broke on it twice, so I had to replace it, but it's still the same bracelet you gave me!" Tsukkishima was silent. "Woah, I never knew Tsukki gave you a bracelet!" Yamaguchi said grabbing her wrist and investigating it. "He did." ___ said. "He gave it to me right before I left all those years ago, I kept it ever since." 

"So you did give it to her after after all," Yamaguchi said. "I didn't think you were going to do it, but it's the same one I helped you with. Did you also tell her your feel-" Tsukkishima clasped a hand over Yamaguchi's mouth. "Not. Another. Word." Tsukkishima hissed. He let go of Yamaguchi's mouth. Yamaguchi gasped. "Geez Tsukki! You nearly suffocated me! I'll take that as a no then.." 

"Tell me what?" ___ asked. "Nothing. It's not important." Tsukkishima said looking away, a blush spreading on his cheeks. "If you say so.." ___ shrugged. "But if there was something I was holding back saying all these years that I wanted to say I'd just blurt it out." "Well then you could tell him that-" ___ covered Yamaguchi's mouth. "Shh! That was a secret!" She uncovered his mouth and Yamaguchi gasped, taking a deep breath. "Geez, you two are trying to kill me! But I really think that if the two of you just told each other that you li-" they both covered his mouth.

"Not. A. Word." They said in unison. They looked at eachother in suprise before removing their hands from Yamaguchi's mouth. He coughed. "Okay, I'm just going to be quiet now before you both suffocate me." He said. "Good idea." ___ and Tsukkishima said once again in unison. "See?! You too are perfect for eachoth-" they shot him a sharp look and he stopped as they both blushed fiercely. 

They all ate in silence for awhile before ___ finished eating. "H-Here's your lunchbox back Ke- Tsukki." ___ said handing it back to him blushing. "T-Thanks.." Tsukki said taking it back and putting it in his bag, his cheeks tinting pink. "See? Aren't you guys happy we had this little reunion?! It went great! Aside from you two trying to kill me.. I'm glad to see the two of you made up!" Yamaguchi said, a huge smile on his face. "Now if only you two would just tell eachother-" "Do you want to die?" Tsukkishima whispered into his ear as he covered his mouth. Yamaguchi shook his head. "Good." Tsukkishima said releasing him. Just then the bell had rang.

"Well, lunch is over!" ___ cheered hopping up. She reached out her hand and pulled Yamaguchi up before pulling him close. "Tell him what I told you before I left, and you're dead." She whispered in a dangerous tone. "Got it." Yamaguchi said gulping. ___ pulled away and smiled brightly. "Shall we get going then?" She said cheerfully. Tsukkishima stood up. "Yeah, you go on ahead, I wanna talk to Yamaguchi for a bit." He said. "Alright, later! ___ said with a wave as she kept walking.

Meanwhile, Tsukkishima was talking to Yamaguchi. 

"You better not tell her what I told you, or else you're going to get it." Tsukkishima said staring into his eyes. "Got it." Yamaguchi said nodding. "But are you ever going to tell her? I mean she kept your bracelet all these years so that probably means something right?" He said fearfully. "There is no way I'm telling her anything. There's no way she likes me like that, especially after all these years." Tsukkishima said as they began walking. "But I reallyyy think you should tell her Tsukki!" Yamaguchi pleaded. "Not a chance." Tsukkishima said as they kept walking.


	4. Meeting The Guys

___ sat down in her desk and not long later Tsukkishima entered the classroom taking the seat next to her. "Hey Tsukki? Did.. umm.. did Yamaguchi tell you anything weird while you two were talking? Something weird about me?" "No, why? Is there something weird about you that I'm supposed to know about?" "N-No!" ___ said blushing. "Then why'd you ask?" "N-No reason! I just thought that he might tell you what I said to him all those years ago, that's all!" "What did you say?" He asked innocently. "I-It's nothing! Totally not important!" ___ said covering her face.

"If it's not important, then why are you freaking out right now?" Tsukkishima asked looking at her intently. "Me? Freaking out?! N-No way!" ___ laughed nervously. "What would give you that idea?!" "Well, for starters your face went all red and then you covered your face." Tsukkishima said bluntly. "I-I gotta go to the bathroom!" ___ said jumping up out of her seat. She ran into the hall and rushed towards the bathroom.

She stood in the bathroom looking into the mirror at her red face. 'I can't believe he just pointed it out like that! Tsukkishima is so blunt I swear!' ___ thought splashing some cold water onto her face. 'Calm down ___. He doesn't know that you like him. Stop freaking out.' She told herself. 'Yamaguchi didn't say anything. You've got nothing to worry about.' She dried her face with a paper towel before looking back into the mirror. 'How am I going to hide this..' she thought. 'I'm going to have to tell him eventually..' She sighed before heading towards the door and back to class.

She reentered the classroom and sat back down in her seat. "Better now?" Tsukkishima asked looking at her. "Y-Yeah." ___ said. Just then the final lunch bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom. "Okay class, today we will be going over some more biology. Open your textbooks to page 242 and begin reading on cellular respiration.." and with that, class started. 'Just a few more hours and it'll be time to head to practice' ___ thought.

The time flew by in a breeze. The bell rang and ___ began packing her things. Just then, Yamaguchi walked into the classroom. "You guys ready?" He asked. ___ stuffed her pencil bag into her backpack. "I'm ready!" ___ said. "You ready Ke-Tsukki?" She asked. "You have a really hard time not calling me Kei, don't you?" Tsukkishima said sighing as he stood up. "Hey! I'm working on it!" ___ said defensively as they began walking towards the gym. "I used to call you Kei all the time! It takes some adjusting, that's all!" "Just.. work on it." Tsukkishima said blushing. "It's weird when you call me by my first name now." "Got it!" ___ said. "I'll try harder!" "Good." he said.

Not longer later and they reached the gym. Yamaguchi walked her inside. "Well, this is the gym!" Yamaguchi said smiling. "Me and Tsukki have to go change, but you can take a seat over there next to Kiyoko," he said pointing. "She's the team manager and she's really nice. I'm sure you two will be friends in no time." "Got it!" ___ said. "Cool! I'll see you in a bit!" Yamaguchi said before walking out of the gym towards the club room.

___ walked over to Kiyoko and took a seat next to her. Kiyoko glanced over. "Hi, you're Kiyoko right?" ___ asked. "My name's ___. I just transferred back here today from America, it's nice to meet you!" She said. "I'm a friend of Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi." She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you," Kiyoko said taking her hand and giving it a shake. "My name is Kiyoko. So are you here to watch practice today?" "Yep!" ___ said cheerfully. "Yamaguchi invited me to come watch!"

Just then a boy with spikey hair and a bleached strand and a boy with a shaved head walked over. "Hi there," the boy with spikey hair said. "My name's Nishinoya, and this here is Tanaka," he said pointing to his friend. "And who might you be cutie?" ___ blushed. "My name's ___ ___, but you can just call me ___." The boy with the shaved head, Tanaka, held out his hand and ___ shook it before shaking Nishinoya's hand. "So what brings you here little lady?" Tanaka asked. "I'm a friend of Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima, I just transferred back here from the US and they invited me to come watch practice." ___ said.

"Well it's nice to meet you cutie." Nishinoya said. "I'm a libero, and Tanaka here is one of the spikers," "Oh that's so cool! I used to be a libero!" ___ said cheerfully. "I used to play in America!" "No way!" Nishinoya said grinning. "So are you going to watch me practice today? It wouldn't hurt to have a cutie like you cheering me on." "Yeah, I could totally go for a cutie like you cheering for me!" Tanaka said. ___ blushed. "I-I'm here for Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima, but I guess I wouldn't mind cheering you on." ___ said embarrassed. "Hell yeah!" Tanaka cheered. "Alright!" Nishinoya said pumping his fist. Just then, Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima entered the gym.

They walked over. "I see you met Nishinoya and Tanaka," Yamaguchi said. "Yeah, we were just making the cutie feel welcome." Nishinoya said. "She said she'd cheer us on!" Tanaka beamed. "Cutie?" Tsukkishima said, his back straightening. "Well yeah! She's totally adorable!" Nishinoya said. "Yeah, I mean just look at her!" Tanaka said. "She's nice too!" Tsukkishima stepped infront of her defensively. "Well she is off limits." Tsukkishima said sternly, his arms crossed. Tanaka and Nishinoya took a step back. "Why is she off limits?" Tanaka asked. "Because I said so." Tsukkishima said firmly. Yamaguchi stepped in.

"Relax Tsukki, I'm sure they don't mean anything by it! They're just being friendly, that's all!" "That better be it." Tsukkishima said walking off. "Geez, what's his problem?" Nishinoya said. "I don't know, but let's get out of here before he makes that scary face again." Tanaka said, a shiver running down his spine. "Later ___!" Nishinoya said. "Later!" Tanaka said. "Y-Yeah, later." ___ said blushing. Yamaguchi turned to her. "W-What was that all about?" ___ asked embarrassed. "He uh.. Tsukkishima just.. those two are kinda perverts and I think Tsukkishima was just trying to protect you.." Yamaguchi said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah uh.. don't read too much into it." Yamaguchi said. "Okay?" ___ said awkwardly. Just then a boy with orange hair walked over.

"Hey Yamaguchi!" He looked over. "Who's your friend?" "This is ___," Yamaguchi said. "She's my and Tsukkishima's friend. She just transferred back here from America and we thought we would invite her to practice. ___, meet Hinata." "Oh, so you're Hinata!" ___ said. "It's nice to meet you!" She stuck out her hand and Hinata gave it a little shake. "You know me?" Hinata asked. "Oh, well not really.." ___ said. "I just heard that we had similar backstories is all. I come from a small school that didn't really have a volleyball team too. We didn't really have a proper court and our team was pretty bad.. We lost the first game of the season and got shut down." she said. "Woah! We really do have similar backstories!" Hinata said amazed. "Yeah, so I've heard." ___ said giggling.

Just then, a black haired boy walked over. "Come on Hinata! Let's work on those quick attacks!" "Coming!" Hinata said. "Now!" The black haired boy said dragging him off. "H-Hey!" Hinata said in protest as he was pulled along. "Who was that?" ___ asked. "That's Kageyama. He's our setter. He's a first year like us." Yamaguchi said. "He seems kinda scary," ___ said. "He's ah, he's not scary, he's just kinda pushy is all." Yamaguchi said. "You'll get used to him." "I'll take your word for it." ___ said. "So who is everyone else?" 

Yamaguchi pointed to the far side of the gym. "You see that guy with the short brown hair? That's Daichi. He's the team captain. And over there right next to him, the guy with the grey hair? That's Sugawara. He's another setter. He's also a third year." "Oh I see.." ___ said. "And who's the grown man standing next to them? Is that the coach?" Yamaguchi laughed. "No, no, That's Asahi. I know he looks like an adult, but he's really a third year. He's the ace." "Oh my god I thought he was an adult!" ___ laughed. "Yeah, Asahi gets that a lot." Yamaguchi said laughing. "So where's the coach?" ___ asked. "He's not here yet-" just then a tall man with blonde hair wearing a track suit walked into the gym and yelled.

"Alright everyone! Gather up!" He said walking to the board. "That's Coach Ukai, well, the new coach Ukai," Yamaguchi said. "I gotta go now, but I'll talk to you soon!" He said as he scurried off to the board. "Good luck!" ___ called after him. "Thanks!" Yamaguchi yelled back. And with that, practice became underway.

"Alright everyone, today we are going to have a little practice game! Tsukkishima! Nishinoya! Tanaka! Sugawara! You take right! Daichi! Hinata! Asahi! Kageyama! You take left! Yamaguchi, you'll be switching sides as a pinch server! Everyone get to it!" Coach yelled out and everyone grabbed a jersey and headed to their respective sides. "Coach, which side do you want me standing on?" Yamaguchi asked. "You stand up here by me and Kiyoko and.. who are you?" Coach asked turning towards ___.

"My name is ___ ___. But please, just call me ___." She stood up and bowed. "I'm a friend of Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima. I'm here to watch practice today." "That's fine." Coach Ukai said. "Yamaguchi, why don't you take a seat next to ___ for now?" "Yes sir!" Yamaguchi said as he sat down next to ___. "Alright everyone! Let's begin! Daichi, you're up first!" "Yes sir!" Daichi responded as he caught the ball that coach Ukai threw. Coach blew his whistle and Daichi served the ball.

"Got it!" Nishinoya yelled as he recieved the ball perfectly. Yamaguchi turned to ___. "On the bench again," Yamaguchi said laughing nervously. "This happens a lot. I'm not really the best player.." He said scratching his neck. "I'm sure that's not true!" ___ said quickly. "If you were no good then you wouldn't be a pinch server!" "Yeah, I guess you're right about that.." Yamaguchi said sighing. "I just wish I got to play a bit more." "Hey, pinch servers have the ability to change the whole outcome of the game you know!" ___ said. "You have the opportunity to score five points with nothing but serves! How many people can say they can score five points in a row?!" 

"Yeah, you know what! You're totally right! And I can send a killer jump-float serve too!" Yamaguchi cheered. "Wait! You can jump-float serve?!" ___ asked. "Yeah!" Yamaguchi said. "I'm still working on it, but I'm pretty good at it most of the time." Yamaguchi said smiling. "Dude! Jump-floats are seriously a game changer!" ___ said excitedly. "That's part of the reason why we bombed the first real game we ever played. There was this girl on the other team, her name was Jessica Parker, anyways, her speciality was jump-floats and no one on my team had ever dealt with them before. As a libero I really struggled, because you think it's coming right towards you, then all of the sudden it'll drop like a rock, or swerve to the right last minute, and I missed every one of her serves. It cost us the game.." ___ said sighing. "And the season.. so don't ever feel like you're not important, because you can win a whole game with a serve like that!" She said patting him on the back.

"Yeah, you know what? You're right!" Yamaguchi said, a huge smile on his face. "I got this!" "Yeah you do!" ___ cheered. Just then Coach called Yamaguchi's name. "Yamaguchi! You're serving for Hinata!" Coach called out. "Yes sir!" Yamaguchi yelled jumping up. "Nice serve!" ___ yelled. "You got it!" Yamaguchi yelled back. Yamaguchi grabbed the ball and Coach blew the whistle signaling Yamaguchi to serve. He jumped up and sent a jump-float sailing right over the net. 

"Got it!" Nishinoya called out. Just then the ball started dropping. "Tanaka!" Nishinoya yelled out. "On it!" Tanaka yelled as he dove for the ball, barely making it in time. The ball somehow made it's way to Sugawara, who passed it to Tsukkishima and he slammed it to the ground barely missing Hinata's block. 'Damn! That boy can jump!' ___ thought. 'He can out up a fight against Tsukkishima's height!' "Nice kill Tsukki!" ___ yelled out. He glanced over at her and gave her the faintest smile. She blushed at that and looked down in embarrassment. Just then Yamaguchi sat down again next to her.

"Are you blushing?" Yamaguchi asked poking her shoulder making her look up. "N-No!" ___ said quickly. Yamaguchi followed her eyes. "Ohh, I see, you were watching Tsukkishima." "Was not!" ___ said defensively, her blush growing darker. "You know you can't lie to me," Yamaguchi said laughing. "Yeah, okay.." ___ said dejectedly. "After dunking that ball Tsukki looked over at me and smiled." "Ooh!" Yamaguchi said wiggling his eyebrows, a huge grin on his face. "Maybe he likes you," Yamaguchi said, "He totally wanted you to watch him do that!"

"Don't tease me like that," ___ said. "It's a cruel and unusual punishment. There's no way Tsukki likes me like that." She sighed. "You never know," Yamaguchi said putting a hand on her shoulder. "You should tell him!" "No freaking way!" ___ yelled. "There's no way he would like me like that! Besides, I don't wanna ruin our friendship!" "But he just might like you back!" Yamaguchi said. "You shouldn't hide it!" "Stop getting my hopes up Yamaguchi," ___ whined. "It's not going to happen." "You don't know until you try!" He said poking her on the cheek. "Then I guess I won't know." ___ said back.

After awhile the game was neck at neck, and getting close to the end. Tsukkishima's team only needed one more point to win the game. "Come on Yamaguchi! Nice serve!" ___ cheered. Yamaguchi gave her a nod and Coach blew the whistle. Yamaguchi sent the ball sailing over the net and it was recieved by Daichi. 'Oh no. Hinata and Kageyama are totally going to do that freak quick attack again..' ___ thought. Just as she thought that, Hinata jumped up into the air.

Tsukkishima must have picked up on it too, because his eyes were following Hinata. 'Why hasn't he jumped yet?!' ___ thought. 'Oh wait! He's read blocking!' Just as she realised it, Tsukkishima jumped up into the air, Tanaka following his lead, and they performed a double block, sending Hinata's quick attack to the ground, never making it over the net. Coach blew the whistle. "And that's game!" He yelled out. "Everyone grab a drink and you're free to leave!"

___ ran up to Tsukkishima. "Kei! That was freaking amazing!" ___ yelled out in joy hugging him and jumping up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Tsukkishima tensed up, blushing before picking her up and spinning her around twice. Yamaguchi watched, smiling in the distance as he took a sip of water. Tsukki set her down and ___ blushed. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hug you out of nowhere like that! And umm.. kiss you.. or I mean! Kiss you on.. the cheek! I was just so happy that you won that I.. and.. yeah." ___ said embarrassed. "You called me Kei.." Tsukkishima said blushing. "Oh! Oops! Crap! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I just got excited and.. well, it slipped out!" "It's.. fine.." Tsukkishima said looking away. "Anyways, I gotta change. I'll see you later." Tsukkishima quickly grabbed his things and shuffled out the door. 

Yamaguchi walked up to her smiling. "Soo? What was that?" Yamaguchi asked. ___ blushed. "It.. It was nothing. I was just happy that he won, that's all." ___ said more to herself than Yamaguchi. "It didn't look like nothing." Yamaguchi said. "You hugged him and kissed him on the cheek." "It was the heat of the moment! Swear!" ___ said frantically. "You gotta tell him how you feel." Yamaguchi said smiling. "Never." ___ said. "I'm going home now, tell Tsukki I said goodbye." "Do you want me to walk you home?" Yamaguchi asked. "You don't even know where I live," ___ said giggling. "You can walk me home next time, promise. I only live a couple blocks away." "Okay, see you tomarrow. I'm going to go get changed now. Stay safe on your way home." Yamaguchi said patting her back. "I will," she said, "See you tomarrow." And with that, ___ headed home.


	5. Sneak Attack

It was Tuesday morning and ___ was walking to school when suddenly she noticed a certain someone walking a block ahead of her. 'I'm totally going to scare him' ___ thought. 'It's not easy to sneak up on Tsukki, but I can do this. Just be quiet ___. Quick and quiet.' She began to walk quickly, taking off her shoes to prevent them from making any noise and putting them into her backpack. 'My stockings are going to get soo dirty..' she thought 'but this is totally worth it!'

She was now only a few feet behind him, and so far he hadn't noticed her, or at least if he had he wasn't showing any signs of it. 'Time to close in' she thought. She crept up quietly until she was directly behind him. She was so close that if she wanted to she could reach out and grab him, and she did. Without warning, ___ lept onto Tsukkishima's back and wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. "Guess who?" ___ whispered hotly in his ear.

Tsukkishima came to an immediate halt and whipped his head around until he was face to face with her, their faces only mere inches apart. "What are you doing?" Tsukkishima asked cooly, his voice not matching the blush that spread across his cheeks and onto his ears at all. "It's a sneak attack!" ___ said. "Weren't you scared?! Oh wait.." she pouted. "You saw me coming didn't you.." she frowned. "No, you caught me by surprise, I just knew it was you when I saw the bracelet on your arm wrap around me." "Oh.." ___ pouted. "You can put me down now.." 

Tsukkishima hadn't realised that he wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. He then looked down at her legs that were wrapped around his waist. "Why aren't you wearing shoes?" He asked turning his head around to look at her as he began walking. "I wanted to surprise you, " ___ said. "I figured my shoes would make noises as I crept up on you. I had to be sneaky so I put them in my backpack so I could run quietly and catch up!" "Your stockings are all dirty now," he said sighing.

"So? That's what washing machines are for! Who cares!? Are you going to put me down now?" ___ asked impatiently. "No." Tsukkishima said cooly. "What do you mean no?!" ___ started wiggling violently. "I can walk on my own!" "Stop wiggling! Do you want me to drop you?" Tsukkishima hissed. "Umm.. yeah!" ___ responded. "I can't walk on my own if you're holding me!" They had finally reached the school entrance. "Tsukki! Put me down! People are going to see and think it's weird! This is something couples do!" Tsukkishima blushed, putting his head down as he kept walking. "I'll put you down on the steps." He said. "Finee.. ya big bully!" She ruffled his hair.

"Stop that!" Tsukkishima said shaking his head. "But your hair looks so cute all messed up!" ___ said teasing. "I can't reach your head anymore like when we were kids! Just let me have this moment! The view is nice up here by the way, I could get used to this whole being tall thing!" "You're 5'7. You're not exactly short you know." Tsukkishima said scoffing. "So? I'm not as tall as you! Let me enjoy the couple of inches!" Suddenly she spotted Yamaguchi standing on the steps. 'Oh my god! He's going to think I told him my feelings!' 

"Tsukkishima I'm not kidding! Put me down right now!" ___ squirmed violently. "Stop squirming! We're almost to the stairs!" "Yeah but Yamaguchi is-" "___! Tsukki! Don't you two look cute!" Yamaguchi yelled out running over. Tsukkishima quickly dropped ___ and she landed on her butt. "Oww! Tsukki! What the hell!" She said rubbing her butt. Tsukkishima quickly turned around. "Sorry! I just.." he reached out his hand and pulled her up. "I know I said to put me down, but you didn't have to drop me!" ___ said as she dusted off her skirt. Yamaguchi coughed as she grabbed her shoes out of her bag and put them on.

"So are you two finally together now?" Yamaguchi asked. ___ shot Tsukkishima a glare. He blushed and she blushed in return. "What would give you that idea?" Tsukkishima asked nervously. "So you're not.. together?" Yamaguchi asked wincing. "No.." ___ said blushing fiercely. "Ahahaha! Funny joke right?! Why would you two be together?!" Yamaguchi laughed nervously scratching the back of his neck. Both ___ and Tsukkishima shot him a glare. "So what exactly.. happened?" He asked carefully. ___ sighed. "I saw Tsukki walking a block ahead of me and I wanted to perform a sneak attack, so I took off my shoes so I could sneak up on him silently and then I jumped on his back." ___ explained. "And you kept carrying her because..?" Yamaguchi asked. Tsukkishima blushed. "I didn't want her stockings to get dirty." Tsukkishima said.

"Fair enough.." Yamaguchi said awkwardly. Tsukkishima and ___ blushed. "I'm heading to class." Tsukkishima said quickly before hurrying inside. ___ walked up to Yamaguchi and flicked him on the forehead. "Oww! Hey! Be nice!" Yamaguchi said rubbing his forehead. "Why do you always gotta say dumb stuff?!" ___ asked pouting. "Well what was I supposed to think?! He was carrying you!" "So? You used to give me piggyback rides all the time but that didn't mean we were going out, ya big dummy!" ___ said. "Hey, hey! It was an honest mistake! I swear!" Yamaguchi said. ___ raised her finger and Yamaguchi flinched. "Oh my god! I'm not going to flick you again! Swear! You don't gotta flinch like that!" "You promise?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yes, yes! Now hold still!" 

___ reached out her fingers towards Yamaguchi's face and brushed her fingers against his cheek. "You had an eyelash on your face. It was bothering me." She said as she held the hair out in front of him."Oh, thanks!" He said laughing. "I seriously thought you were going to flick me again. You'd flick me all the time when we were kids." "Yeah.. I was a little bit.. feisty back then." ___ said giggling. "Back then?!" Yamaguchi said. "I guess I might still be a bit.. feisty." ___ said rubbing her forehead. She then gave Yamaguchi a hug. "Hey, what's this for?" He said patting her back. "I'm sorry I used to flick and tease you back then all the time! Me and Tsukki thought it was funny but it was totally mean.." "You're fine!" Yamaguchi said laughing. ___ let him go. "Time to get to class," she said. "Let's go." Yamaguchi said following her.


	6. Alone Together

The morning passed by in a flash and suddenly the lunch bell rang. ___ leaned over to Tsukkishima and whispered into his ear. "Hey Tsukki, wanna ditch Yamaguchi and go eat lunch somewhere alone together?" "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Tsukkishima said blushing. "Oh my god Tsukki! You are so mean!" ___ said. "I was just kidding!" ___ laughed.

"Y-Yeah, well so was I.." Tsukkishima muttered. "Tsukki, you're such a bad liar, you know that? But if you're serious.. I mean we totally could, but we gotta leave right now!" ___ threw her backpack onto her shoulder and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of his seat. She took off running as Tsukkishima struggled to put his bag over his shoulder as he stumbled along behind her.

"Hey! Slow down would you?!" He yelled as she dragged him down the halls. "No time! Yamaguchi is fast! If he spots us we're screwed!" Just then they heard a voice call out behind them. "Hey Tsukki! ___! Slow down would you!" "Shit! We've been spotted! Quick!" ___ pulled Tsukkishima around the corner and into a janitor's closet. She panted. She was pressed close against Tsukkishima's chest in the cramped space. "What are you-" "Shh!" ___ said. "Tsukki! ___! Where'd you guys go?!" They heard Yamaguchi just outside the door. "Tsukki? ___?" They heard his footsteps pass.

___ pushed against Tsukkishima's chest. Tsukkishima blushed. "What are you doing?" He asked. "I'm pushing the door open! what else would I be doing?! But it won't open for some reason.." ___ felt around on Tsukkishima's chest. "I can't find the door handle!" ___ said. Tsukkishima cleared his throat. "That's because you're not pressing on the door." He said shyly. "Then what am I pressing on?! Oh my god!" ___ pulled her hands away quickly, "I am so sorry! It's just.. you're so solid! I thought you were the door!" She blushed intensely before reaching around Tsukkishima, finding the door handle.

"Okay, found it!" ___ said. She twisted the door handle and peeked out. "Okay, I think we lost him." She said, opening the door wider before stepping out. "That was close!" She said sighing. "Was it really necessary to pull me into a closet?" Tsukkishima asked blushing. "What else was I supposed to do?! He would have caught us!" "We could have just eaten lunch with him," Tsukkishima said looking in the direction that Yamaguchi must have went. "Yeah, but you said you wanted to eat lunch alone together! If he would've caught us there is no way that would've happened! I feel kinda bad now though.." ___ said sighing.

"Why's that?" Tsukkishima asked. "Well.. Now he's probably going to eat lunch all alone.." ___ said frowning. "He could always eat with Hinata," Tsukkishima said. "Yeah, true.. Anyways we should get going." She said as she began to walk. Tsukkishima fell in step beside her.

"So where are we planning on eating?" Tsukkishima asked. "Well, considering we're kind of hiding from Yamaguchi, the gym steps is probably off limits.. and the classroom is too obvious, so how about somewhere unexpected?" "Like where?" Tsukkishima asked. "Well there's a park near the school.. Why not there? It's a relatively nice day," ___ said. "Works for me." Tsukkishima said shrugging.

They continued to walk until they reached the park and ___ took a seat on a nearby bench, Tsukkishima taking a seat next to her. "Did you remember your lunch today?" Tsukkishima asked pulling out his lunchbox. "Yeah actually! I had to run back inside to grab it though to be honest, I forgot it on the counter.. but here it is!" ___ said patting her bag. She then pulled out a bento box and opened it up. 

"Ooh! My favourite! Thank you dad!" "Let me guess.. It's meat." Tsukkishima said with a smirk. "How did you know?!" ___ said giving him a sideways glance and closing the lid partway. "You always loved meat." Tsukkishima replied. "Every time I came over for dinner, it was some sort of meat." "What can I say? I'm totally a carnivore!" ___ said laughing as she grabbed her chopsticks. Tsukkishima grabbed his as ___ popped a bite into her mouth.

"Mmm! So good! Dad is freaking awesome with a grill!" ___ cheered. "He always was," Tsukkishima mused. "He was always out back grilling when we were kids." "I think he just liked the fact that a grill has fire to be honest." ___ said. "He was always lighting candles and stuff just to play with the fire." "Speaking of, how is your dad?" Tsukkishima asked. "He's good. He got a better job offer in Japan so that's why we moved back. He said that this will be our last time moving, so I'll hold him to that. I really don't miss flipping back and forth from America to Japan."

"So where do you like living better? America or Japan?" Tsukkishima asked taking a bite of his lunch. "Well, America was always fun, but I'll have to go with Japan, hands down." She said taking another bite of her meat. "Why's that?" Tsukkishima asked, chewing his food. "Because you're here silly!" She said smiling. "Because of me?" Tsukkishima asked blushing. "Yes, because of you!" "But why?" Tsukkishima asked looking down.

"Because you're my best friend.. and I.. I love you." ___ said embarrassed. "You.. love me?" Tsukkishima asked, his blush now reaching his ears. "Oh my god! Did I say that out loud?! I.. umm.. I mean, uhh.. We're best friends! And uhh.. that means we love each other right?! That's totally how it works! You know.. cause friendship and stuff! Yeah, that's totally it!" ___ explained frantically, her face turning crimson. "Oh.." Tsukkishima said. "That's what you meant.." He blushed. "In that case, I love you too.." he muttered.

___ closed her lunchbox and placed it into her bag before hugging Tsukkishima. "I think lunch will be over soon," she said as she squeezed him. "This was fun!" ___ said. "We should spend time alone together more often!" "I think I'd like that." Tsukkishima replied as he squeezed her back. ___ let go of Tsukkishima and slowly pulled back.

"Should we start heading back?" She asked. "Probably." Tsukkishima said as he stood up, placing his lunchbox into his bag. "Shall we?" He asked. "We shall." ___ said standing up. They began walking. "I hope Yamaguchi isn't mad at us for ditching him.." ___ said dejectedly. "It's Yamaguchi we're talking about here. When has he ever gotten mad?" "True.." ___ said sighing. "I still feel bad though." "He'll get over it." Tsukkishima said. "How do we explain where we were though?" 

"That is a really good question!" ___ said. "You better start fabricating a story!" "That's your speciality." Tsukkishima said sighing. "I don't have the imagination you have." "True.." ___ said sighing. "You'd probably say something really stupid anyways.." "I would not!" Tsukkishima said defensively. "I'd come up with something quite plausible!" "Good," ___ said smirking. "Then you'll have no problem doing that when we get back." "Tsk.." Tsukkishima said. "Just you wait.."


	7. Karasuno's Iron Wall

School was finally over and ___ leaned over Tsukkishima's desk. "Ready for practice?" She asked. "You're coming to watch again?" Tsukkishima asked. " 'Course I am! What else am I supposed to do? Sit at home and wait for my father to come home?! I'd be bored out of my mind! Besides.. he gets home so damn late, if he comes home at all." Tsukkishima sighed. "I guess I don't mind," Tsukkishima said getting up. "Let's go." "Alright!" ___ said heading to the door. Suddenly they ran straight into Yamaguchi.

"Hey! Why did you guys disappear for lunch?! I spent half of the time looking for you two!" Yamaguchi said with a worried expression on his face. ___ glanced at Tsukkishima and met his eyes before she hurrily spoke. "Well! Looks like I gotta run! I gotta do some stuff before I head to practice. Have fun explaining Tsukki!" She quickly darted off. "Tsk.." Tsukkishima said. 

'Boy, I barely dodged that one..' ___ thought. 'I wonder what lame excuse Tsukki is going to come up with..' She began to walk down the halls. 'What to do, what to do.. I said I had sone things to do before I headed to practice to watch them, so I have to do 'something' to show up late for practice!' She continued to walk down the hallway. 'I know!' She thought. 'I'll hide in the bathroom and braid my hair!' 

___ turned the corner before heading to the girls' bathroom. She opened the door. 'Looks like nobody's here' she thought. She took a seat on the bathroom counter and looked into the mirror. She snapped the hair tie on her wrist. 'Well, looks like you're going to be of some use today Mr. Lucky Ponytail!' She began combing through her hair before separating it into three sections, pulling them over her shoulder.

'Over and under, I'll do a dutch braid today.' She brought a section from the side to the middle, crossing it under the middle section. She kept repeating this motion, switching sides each time as she went along until she had reached the end. She began to ponytail it off. 'Anddd.. Done!' She thought. She checked herself out in the mirror before hopping off the counter. 'Lookin' good ___!' She thought. She then left the bathrooms.

She made her way slowly down the hallway, looking at each and every poster and classroom as she walked by in order to kill time. 'I wonder if the girls' volleyball team needs a libero?' She thought. 'Eh.. probably not. Then again, the doctor in America told me I couldn't play anymore after that last tumble I took before we lost. I mean.. I know I messed up my knee real bad.. but it doesn't hurt or anything, so I should be fine right?' She kicked her knee out infront of her, bending it a few times. 'Eh.. I probably shouldn't risk it' She thought.

She made her way outside the school and towards the gym. I think I wasted enough time' she thought. She took a deep breath and walked inside the gym, walking over to take a seat next to Kiyoko. "So, what'd I miss?" ___ asked. "Coach just went over what we're doing for practice today and everyone just started. We're doing blocking drills today." Kiyoko said. "Blocking drills? How do you do that?" "Well basically we have Coach set some balls to our spikers and everyone goes through trying to block them. We rotate out spikers so everyone has a chance to block."

"Oh I see! That's an interesting practice strategy!" ___ said. "It is rather unique," Kiyoko responded. Up first to block was Tanaka trying to block Asahi's spike. ___ watched curiously. From what she saw the other day, Asahi had a killer spike, so she was interested to see how this'll play out. Coach set the ball and Asahi hit it, slamming the ball into Tanaka's fingertips as he jumped and the ball slipped right through Tanaka's hands. "Nice one Asahi!" Coach praised. "Keep hitting them hard! Give 'em something to work with!" Asahi nodded.

Tanaka shook his hands. "Damn Asahi! You really don't let up do you?!" He said. "There will be players who hit a lot harder than Asahi at nationals so it's good that he's not holding back." Coach said. "If we can at least get a one touch on them we'll do fine." "Yes sir!" Tanaka said getting back in line. Next up to block was Hinata. "You ready?" Coach asked Asahi. Asahi nodded. "Yes sir." He said. Coach set the ball.

'It'll never cease to amaze me seeing just how high Hinata can jump' ___ thought as Hinata jumped up to block. 'I mean, he might be just a decoy, but his official position 'is' middle blocker after all.' Once again, Asahi powered right on through Hinata's hands. 'Well, that block 'might' qualify as a one touch.. but still.. Asahi powered straight through Hinata's block too..' 

Next up was Tsukkishima. 'Yamaguchi told me that Tsukki was invited to some special training camp for first years, so this should be good' she thought. She watched in anticipation as Coach set the ball. Asahi's hand collided with the ball and Tsukkishima jumped. 'I wonder if Asahi will power through Tsukkishima's block too' she wondered. Just then Tsukkishima's fingers collided with the ball, smacking it down onto the other side of the net.

"Great job Tsukkishima!" ___ cheered. He looked at her and gave her a small nod before getting back into line. "There's Karasuno's Iron Wall!" Coach yelled. "Nice one Tsukki!" Yamaguchi said, patting Tsukkishima on the back as he passed by on the way getting back into line. When everyone went through the line, Asahi switched off with Tanaka. This time everyone had a much easier time shutting the spike down.

It was Tsukkishima's turn next. Instead of hitting a line shot, Tanaka went for a cross shot. Tsukkishima watched from the ground, getting a hint at Tanaka's motives before jumping up. 'Crap! Tsukkishima isn't far enough left to stop this attack!' ___ thought. Just as she thought that Tsukkishima wasn't going to be able to block it, Tsukkishima moved his arm towards the left, successfully blocking the attack. "That's my Tsukki!" ___ called out jumping up from her seat to clap. "You really are an iron wall all on your own!" Tsukkishima looked over at her and blushed. "Thanks.." he mumbled.

"Alright everyone! We're going to switch it up a bit! Hinata! Kageyama! You're on this side of the net! I want everyone to try and stop this crazy quick attack!" Coach yelled. Hinata and Kageyama went to the other side of the net. "You ready?" Hinata asked. Kageyama gave a curt nod. He then set the ball. 

Almost everyone failed at jumping in time to stop the quick attack. 'I don't blame them,' ___ thought. 'I doubt I could react fast enough to stop that..' Up next was Asahi. 'He's tall, so he aught to not need as much of a reaction time to jump.' ___'s prediction was right. Asahi didn't manage to jump high enough in time to completely stop the ball, but he got a decent one touch at least.

Next up was Tsukkishima. 'Come on Tsukki!' She thought. 'You're Karasuno's Iron Wall! You gotta be able to react quick enough to this!' "You got this Tsukki!" She called out. Just then, Kageyama set the ball and Hinata was in the air in no time. It happened so fast that ___ somehow saw it in slow motion. Tsukkishima had jumped at the perfect time, and he curved his fingers, sending the ball to the ground on the other side of the net. "Way to go Tsukki!" She cheered.

They went through the line several times, most players barely getting in a one touch, but every time Tsukkishima somehow jumped at the perfect moment, sending the ball to the ground with the form of a perfect blocker, and every time he did it, ___ would cheer. "Way to go Tsukki!" "That's Karasuno's Iron Wall!" "Nice block!"

They kept going, focusing on stopping Hinata and Kageyama's quick attacks before Coach called it the quits. "That's it for today everyone! Take a drink and head home! You all did great!" He yelled. Kiyoko got up and started picking up the balls. "Here, let me help you," ___ said picking up a nearby ball. "Thanks," Kiyoko said. ___ continued helping clean up the gym until all the balls were put away and the floors were mopped. "Thanks for the help today," Kiyoko said smiling. "No problem!" ___ said. Just then, Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi came back into the gym.

"We're done changing," Yamaguchi said walking over to her. Tsukkishima followed. "I can tell," ___ giggled. "Did you help Kiyoko clean the gym?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yeah I did," ___ said. "I figured I'd help out rather than stand around and watch." "That was nice of you," Yamaguchi said. ___ turned to Tsukkishima. "How come you didn't tell me you had a badass nickname like 'Karasuno's Iron Wall'?!" ___ asked. Tsukkishima blushed. "It's not important." He said. "Is so!" ___ said. "That's so freaking cool! Now lean down here so I can give you a nogie!" ___ said jumping up trying to reach his hair.

Tsukkishima stood up straight, preventing her from being able to properly reach his head. She jumped up one more time. "Hah! I touched it! I touched your head! That means I win!" "We weren't really competing," Tsukkishima replied. Yamaguchi laughed. "Yeah, I guess not, but if you were competing she totally would've won." "Oh yeah?" Tsukkishima said. "Watch this." Tsukkishima held out his hand and placed it on her head, gently ruffling her hair. 

"Tsukki stop that! You're going to mess up my braid!" ___ said trying to swat his hand away. "And what if I want to mess up your braid?" Tsukkishima said with a devilish smirk. "Then keep it up, because you're doing a good job doing that!" ___ said gripping her braid, trying to hold it in place. "That's enough Tsukki," Yamaguchi said laughing. "You're torturing the poor girl!" Tsukkishima stopped. "Finally!" ___ said, attempting to fix her hair.

"It's getting late, do you want me to walk you home?" Yamaguchi asked. "That would be grea-" "I'll do it." Tsukkishima interrupted. "That's fine by me." ___ said shrugging. "Alright, well if Tsukki is walking you home, then I'll see you later ___. I'll walk you home some other time." Yamaguchi said. "Sounds good," ___ said. "See you later Yamaguchi!" "Later!" Yamaguchi said with a wave as he left the gym. 

Tsukkishima and ___ began walking stopping to shut the gym doors. "So where do you live now anyways?" Tsukkishima asked as they continued to walk. "You know that park where we ate lunch together at earlier? Well I live about two blocks past that." ___ said happily. "You live pretty close then huh," Tsukkishima commented. "This'll be a pretty short walk." "Yeah, I guess so.." ___ said frowning. "Well, let's make the most of it!" "Agreed!" Tsukkishima said.

They kept walking and had just passed the park. "It's a left from here," ___ said as she began crossing the street to go left. All of the sudden ___ tripped. Tsukkishima quickly caught her. "Are you okay?" Tsukkishima asked. "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks for catching me. Stupid stick!" She said as she kicked it to the side of the road. "Why'd you have to trip me!" 'At least Tsukki caught me though.. It felt nice in his arms.' She blushed at the thought.

All of the sudden, Tsukkishima took her hand in his own. She blushed. "W-What are you doing?" She asked. "You're too careless," he said, a blush appearing on his cheeks. "If I hold your hand, this way you won't trip again." "O-Okay.." ___ said squeezing his hand. "Thanks." "No problem." Tsukkishima replied.

They continued walking in silence. All ___ could think about was the heat radiating from his hand. 'I must be blushing like an idiot right now,' she thought. 'This is nice though.' Suddenly her house came into view. "Well, this is my stop," ___ said pointing to her house with her free hand. "Let me walk you to your door." "Okay that's fine." ___ said. They continued walking until they reached her front steps. "I guess this is goodbye," ___ said as she walked up one step. She reluctantly let go of his hand. "I'll see you later," she said giving him a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight." Tsukkishima replied blushing. "Sweet dreams!" ___ called as Tsukki began walking away. "Yeah, you too." He said back.

'Why is my heart beating so fast?' She thought. 'All we did was hold hands..' She unlocked her front door. 'Imagine if we kissed!' She thought. She quickly shook her head. 'No, I shouldn't be thinking that right now. Tsukkishima and I are just friends.' She slapped herself on the cheeks in order to cool her head before walking up the stairs and throwing her bag into her room. 'Time to make dinner,' she thought. 'I wonder if dad will get home in time to eat it before it gets cold?' She laughed. 'Not a chance.'


	8. Eat It Or I'll Feed You!

The morning flew by without a hitch, and before she new it, it was noon, and the lunch bell rang. "Hey Tsukki. You ready?" She asked as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Yeah, just hold on a minute." He said, stuffing his things into his bag. "Okay, ready." "Let's go then," ___ said. They met Yamaguchi in the hallway. "Hey Tsukki. Hey ___." Yamaguchi said with a smile. "Are you guys going to eat lunch with me today?"

"Yep!" ___ responded. "That was a one time thing." "A one time thing? But Tsukki said-" "It's not important." Tsukkishima said cutting him off. "Let's go." "Alright then.." ___ said. "After you." Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima began walking, and ___ fell in step beside them. "Let's eat lunch outside again," Tsukkishima suggested. "That's fine with me," ___ responded. "Same here," Yamaguchi said. They headed outside.

"Gym steps, here we come!" ___ said. "Yep!" Yamaguchi responded. "It's a nice place to eat. You can enjoy the fresh air." "That's why I suggested it." Tsukkishima said. They finally arrived at the gym and took a seat on the steps. ___ quickly pulled her lunch box out of her bag, opening it. "What is it today?" Yamaguchi asked. "Wanna take a guess?" "Some kind of meat," Yamaguchi said confidently. 

"Hey! It's not like all I eat is meat!" ___ said defensively. "What is it then?" Tsukkishima asked. "Tonkatsu.." ___ muttered. "So I was right." Yamaguchi said. "Hey! There's tamagoyaki too! It's not just meat!" She said. "That's a shocker." Tsukkishima replied. "See! I eat other things aside from just meat!" "So it seems," Tsukkishima responded. ___ quickly scarfed down her lunch before looking at Tsukkishima's.

"Hey Tsukki, aren't you going to eat your vegetables?" ___ asked. "No." Tsukkishima responded. "Why not?" "Not a fan." He said. "Come on Tsukki! You gotta eat your vegetables! They're good for you!" ___ said. "I'm not doing it." Tsukkishima replied. "If you don't eat you're vegetables then I'll just have to feed them to you!" ___ said grabbing a cherry tomato out of Tsukkishima's lunchbox with her chopsticks. "Say ah!" ___ said.

Tsukkishima clamped his jaw shut. "Come on Tsukki! It's not that bad!" He shook his head. "Come on! Do it for me?" Tsukkishima shook his head once again. "Nope." He said. "Pretty pleaseee?" ___ pleaded. "What about a carrot instead?" ___ dropped the cherry tomatoe into his lunchbox instead and picked up the carrot slice instead. "Please, please, please, please, please?" ___ asked. "Fine." Tsukkishima muttered.

___ slowly brought the carrot stick to his mouth and his lips brushed her fingertips. Tsukkishima blushed. He chewed the carrot. "There. Happy?" He asked. "You only ate one! ___ said. "At least finish all your carrots!" "Fine.." Tsukkishima muttered. "I'll do it for you." "Yay!" ___ cheered. "I'm proud of you!" "You better be.." Tsukkishima muttered. He finished the carrot slice.

"Alright, time for the rest of your vegetables!" ___ said picking up a cherry tomatoe. "Those absolutely repulsive." Tsukkishima said. "I despise them." "Come onn! If you eat at least one tomatoe I won't force you to eat any more of them." ___ said. "You swear?" He asked. "Swear." ___ said. Tsukkishima hesitantly took a bite. "There, I did it." He said after swallowing.

"Now time for the lettuce ___ said picking up a leaf of it with her chopsticks. "Ah!" Tsukkishima responded. ___ popped it into his mouth and he swallowed it. "Good boy," ___ said patting him on the head. "Let's keep going." ___ continued to feed him the vegetables until the lunch bell rang and all his vegetables were gone. "Time to go," Yamaguchi said. "Yeah, let's go." ___ replied. "Time to head back to class. Tsukkishima and ___ began walking, closely followed by Yamaguchi until they reached their classroom. "Later Yamaguchi!" ___ said with a wave. "Later!" He responded. ___ went into her classroom before shortly later the second bell rung and class began.


	9. Serving 101

After a grueling history test and a few hours of lectures, school was finally over and ___ was packing her bag. Someone tapped her desk and she looked up. "Are you ready to go?" Tsukkishima asked. "Go? Who said I was going to practice today? I have a life too you know!" Tsukkishima blushed. "I-I just thought.." "Kidding!" ___ said. "You don't gotta panic so much!" She laughed. "Of course I'll watch you practice! I wouldn't miss it." She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Should we go then?" She asked. "Come on." Tsukkishima said as he began walking

They arrived at the gym and ___ walked into it before she turned around. "Have fun getting changed Tsukki! Get naked for me!" She teased. Tsukkishima blushed intensely. "Yeah.. W-Whatever.." He said as he quickly left. ___ took a seat next to Kiyoko. "So what's the agenda today?" She asked. "Well, today everyone will be going over serving drills. We want to strengthen everyone's serves before nationals since we can't use a pinch server every time." Kiyoko said calmly.

"Interesting.." ___ said. "I can't wait to watch. Will Yamaguchi be focusing on practicing his jump-float serves then?" "Coach will most likely have him work on both jump-floats and regular serves," she said. "He needs to be strong with both types." "True.." ___ said. Just then Yamaguchi walked into the gym. "Hey ___! Sorry I didn't walk to practice with you and Tsukki today. I had to talk to the teacher after class.." He scratched the back of his neck.

"You're finee," ___ said. "We're capable of walking on our own." He laughed. "True.." he said. "It's just fun walking to practice with you guys." "Well, if you keep your grades up so you don't have to talk to the teacher, you could walk to practice with us everyday." ___ said. He blushed. "How'd you know?" He asked. "Just a guess," ___ said. "It's about the only reason you'd talk to a teacher after class." He laughed awkwardly. "Well.. You're not wrong.." "Do you want me to tutor you?" She asked. "I'm good in pretty much every subject."

"Thanks for the offer, but Tsukki is already tutoring me." He said. "Maybe all three of us could get together and study then." She suggested. "With both me and Tsukki tutoring you, it aught to be even more of a help." "That's true," Yamaguchi said. "Both you and Tsukki are really smart." "I try," ___ laughed. "Want to get together after practice?" "I can't today," he replied, "but how about tomarrow?" "Works for me," ___ said. "It's not like I've got anything better to do after school."

"Your dad still works late then huh.." Yamaguchi said. "He always comes home late, if he comes home at all. He's the biggest workaholic I've ever met, I swear." She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother making him hot dinners." "Well he eats them at least right?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yeah, when I put them in the fridge they're gone eventually, but it's just not the same as eating together like we used to. Ever since we came back to Japan he's been working even harder than he did in America. I feel like maybe it's kinda my fault.. I did find him a job at a higher position than he's used to after all.."

"Well that's a good thing isn't it? Your dad always loved his job, so he's probably happier having a higher up position. If I were him I'd be happier." "True.." ___ said. "Same here. He has Sunday off I think if you and Tsukki wanted to come over? Dad would totally be thrilled to see that we've all caught up, and he could grill for us too. I haven't had a chance to tell him that we all got together again. It'll be a nice surprise." "Sounds good to me!" Yamaguchi said. "Your dad's the best on the grill." "Be sure to tell him that," ___ said laughing. "He'll get a kick out of that."

Just then, Tsukkishima and everyone else who wasn't already here entered the gym and Coach called everyone to the board. "Well, that's my cue! Talk later!" And with that Yamaguchi ran off. "Alright everyone! Today we're doing serving drills! We can't rely on pinch servers all the time at nationals so let's strengthen up those skills! Everyone go get in line on the left side of the court!" With that, Coach dismissed everyone from the practice meeting and everyone went to line up. First was Yamaguchi. He grabbed a ball out of the ball cart next to the line and dribbled it a couple of times.

"Yamaguchi! Your jump-float serves are coming along nicely, but make sure you switch up your serves between jump-floats and regular serves!" Coach yelled. "Yes sir!" Coach blew the whistle and Yamaguchi sent a normal serve over the net. "That's out!" Coach yelled. Work on trying to hit the line but not overpassing it!" "Yes sir!" Yamaguchi got back into line. Next up was Daichi. Daichi served the ball to the middle right of the court. After Daichi was Asahi who sent it to the back left, slamming it to the ground in the position where the libero would be. 'Well, Asahi's serve speciality 'is' spike serves after all,' ___ thought. 'I remember trying to receive serves like that.'

After Asahi was Tanaka, who sent it to the front left, then Sugawara who sent it to the middle back. After Sugawara was Hinata, who's ball hit the net and rolled over it onto the other side of the net. "Hinata! Serve the ball higher next time!" Coach yelled. "Yes sir!" Hinata promptly replied. Now it was finally Tsukkishima's turn. She heard from Yamaguchi that Tsukki's serves weren't the strongest, so she watched him intently. 

Tsukki spun the ball in his hands a couple of times before Coach blew the whistle and he tossed the ball up into the air. He hit it with good form sending it to the front middle. "Good job Tsukki!" ___ cheered. He nodded and got back into line. They continued going through the line until all the balls in the cart were gone and Coach called for practice to end. Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima walked up to her. "We're going to go get changed, we'll see you in a bit," Yamaguchi said before heading to the doors. Tsukkishima nodded and followed him.

While she was waiting for them to finish changing, ___ helped Kiyoko pick up the balls and put them away as they talked about this and that. "So you're Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima's childhood friend then," Kiyoko said placing a ball into the cart. "Yep!" ___ said nodding. "Since back in grade school." "That's interesting," Kiyoko said. "I didn't realise they had many other friends outside the volleyball team." "They have me at least," ___ said laughing. Just then Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima entered the gym.

"Hey ___! You ready to go?!" Yamaguchi yelled. "One second!" ___ called back. She picked up the last ball and placed it in the ball cart before looking at Kiyoko. "I can handle the mopping," Kiyoko said, "You can go ahead and go." "Thanks!" ___ said. "Thanks for all the help." Kiyoko said. ___ walked over to Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi. "Okay, ready!" ___ said grabbing her things. "Let's go," Tsukkishima said. They all began walking.

"Are you guys going to head home now?" ___ asked. "Well, we were both going to walk you home today, but I just got a call from home so I'll have to take a rain check," Yamaguchi said. "I'll walk you home tomarrow, promise." "Alright, I'll see you tomarrow then Yamaguchi," ___ said. "Later!" Yamaguchi said with a wave. Tsukkishima and ___ began walking.

"Yamaguchi said you weren't very strong with your serves, but I think you did great today," ___ said. "Thanks," Tsukkishima said. "I've been working on it." "I can tell," ___ said. They had just passed the park before crossing the road. "I can't believe you made it to nationals!" ___ said. "That is so freaking cool!" "We worked really hard to get this far," Tsukkishima said, "And we don't plan on stopping yet." "I'd be extremely worried if you said you were," ___ said laughing. They arrived at her house and she unlocked the door.

"Would you like to come in?" ___ asked. "Sure." Tsukkishima said.


	10. Pancakes & Memories

The two walked inside and slipped off their shoes. "Welcome to my home," ___ said gesturing grandly with her arms. "Please ignore the mess. We haven't gotten much unpacking done yet." Tsukkishima looked around. "It's nice," he said. "It looks a lot like your old house." "I know right?!" ___ said. "I was really shocked when I first entered it. The layout is all the same as my old house. If it weren't for the beige walls I swear it would look exactly the same!"

___ began walking towards the kitchen. "If the layout is the same then does that mean your room is still in the same place?" Tsukkishima asked. "Yep! Upstairs, second door on the right." "Just like how it used to be." Tsukkishima said. ___ opened the fridge. "Want something to eat?" She asked. "I'm freaking starving!" "Are you sure?" He asked. "It's okay if I stay for dinner?" "I'd prefer it," ___ said taking some eggs, milk, and butter out of the fridge. "It beats eating alone like every other night."

Tsukkishima took a seat at the island. "So what are you making?" Tsukkishima asked. "Pancakes." ___ said grinning. "Pancakes? Why pancakes?" ___ frowned. "Don't you remember?! Pancakes were the last meal we ate together before I left!" "Oh! I remember now!" Tsukkishima said. "You were craving pancakes for dinner so we tried to make them ourselves! We didn't turn the mixer off before raising up the beaters and we made a huge mess."

"And you dropped the bag of flour," ___ added. "Dad was so pissed when he got home." "The pancakes tasted alright though," Tsukkishima said. "Aside from the fact that you burned them." "Hey! That totally wasn't my fault! I thought they would cook faster if I turned the heat all the way up! I didn't realise pancakes were so.. sensitive.. to heat.. Besides! I thought you were watching them!"

Tsukkishima stood up. "You want me to help you?" He asked. "If you want," ___ said. "Trust me, I'm a much better cook now than I used to be. Dad was always working late when we were in America so I learned how to cook dinner myself. Even though he's so busy, he always made time to make my lunches though. He always made them when he got home and placed them in the fridge for me in the morning. He still finds the time to make my lunches actually."

Tsukkishima walked over as ___ opened the cupboard over the stove. "Damnnit! Dad placed the flour on the top shelf in the cupboard! The sugar too.." ___ jumped up but still couldn't reach it. "I have no freakin' idea where the footstool is. It's probably not unpacked yet," ___ said. "I can get it for you," Tsukkishima said. "Really? That'd be great," she said.

Tsukkishima walked over and stood directly behind ___, his body pressed up against her from behind as he reached over her head to grab the flour, reaching around her to place it on the stove before reaching up to grab the sugar. ___ blushed at the close proximity between them. "Thanks Tsukki." She said. "No problem," he said backing up. 'I thought my heart was going to explode for a second there!' ___ thought. 'Imagine if he hugged me from behind..' 

She shook her head blushing at the thought. 'Now's not the time to be thinking that.' "Hey Tsukki? You wanna start by cracking an egg and adding the milk? ¾ a cup, and then ⅔ a stick of butter." "I can do that." Tsukkishima said. ___ placed the measuring glass on the counter before grabbing the measuring cups. She measured out 2 cups of flour, placing it into the bowl before measuring out half a cup of sugar. 

"Thanks," she said. "No problem." Tsukkishima replied. She took the bowl and placed it on the mixer before turning it on to medium. She then grabbed a skillet and placed it on the stove. "Hey Tsukki? Could you put the sugar and flour back please? If I move it dad'll get mad." Tsukkishima got behind ___ and grabbed the sugar putting it on the top shelf before doing the same with the flour. ___ blushed once again. "Got it." He said before taking a step back. "Thanks," she said.

She turned to the mixer. "Should I 'forget' to turn it off again for old times sake?" She asked giggling. He laughed. "Please don't," he said. She turned off the mixer before grabbing the bowl and moving it next to the stove. She reached into a drawer and grabbed a big spoon. "Do you wanna scoop the batter?" She asked turning the stove on to medium. "Sure," he said grabbing the spoon.

Tsukkishima carefully scooped up the batter, pouring it onto the skillet in 4 piles. ___ reached into another drawer and grabbed a spatula. "And now we wait." She said. "At least pancakes don't take long to cook," Tsukkishima said. "True that. That's one of the main reasons I didn't make any meat. It takes forever to bake or fry it." She paused. 'Meat.. meat..' she thought. "Oh my god!" She yelled. "What?!" Tsukkishima asked in a panicked tone. "We have bacon!" 

She ran to the fridge and grabbed it. "I thought something was seriously wrong!" Tsukkishima said. "Don't just yell out of nowhere like that!" He looked worried. She set the bacon on the counter and gave him a hug, burying her face in his chest. He stood there for awhile before hesitantly wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry for worrying you Tsukki," she said. "I won't yell out of nowhere again." "You and your meat fetish.." he mumbled.

"Hey! It's not a fetish!" She said pulling away. "I just like it! That's all!" Tsukkishima let her go and she pouted. "I think your obsession with meat goes far beyond just liking it," he said. "Yeah, maybe.. but that doesn't mean it's a fetish! A fetish is like.. something sexual! It's not like I wanna screw a sausage!" Tsukkishima blushed and ___ just realised what she said. She turned bright red.

She cleared her throat. "Ahem.. it's not a fetish." She said. "Understood." Tsukkishima said looking away. ___ turned to the pancakes. "Hey, I wanna teach you something," she said. "You see how there's bubbles around the edges of the pancakes?" Tsukkishima looked at them. "Yeah, I see them." He said. "When the pancakes bubble like that it means they're ready to flip," she said grabbing the spatula. She flipped the pancakes expertly. "See?" She said. "Perfectly golden brown." "Nice tip." Tsukkishima said. "Thanks." ___ said. "I learned that little tip by making them enough. It's like a magic little built in timer."

"Now time for the bacon," she said grabbing another skillet out of the lower cupboard. She placed it on the stove and turned it to medium heat. She grabbed the package of bacon and tried to open it but failed miserably. "Damnnit! I can't get it open! I don't know where the scissors are either! Stupid 'pull to open' packages! They never work!" "Here, let me see." Tsukkishima said. ___ handed him the package.

Tsukkishima took the package and brought it to his mouth before biting down and ripping the package open with his teeth. "There." He said handing it back to her. "Thanks," she said. She began arranging the bacon carefully on the skillet. "Damn, I wish I would've thought of the bacon before I started the pancakes.." ___ said. "Then they would've been ready at the same time." "They won't be that far apart," Tsukkishima said. "It's not like it takes bacon that long to fry." "Truee.." ___ said.

She peeked under the pancakes. "Alright, the pancakes are done!" She said turning off the heat. "The bacon is almost done too actually," Tsukkishima said observing it. "Awesome!" ___ said grabbing two plates. She set them on the island, sliding two pancakes onto each plate. "The bacon's done!" Tsukkishima said. "Coming! ___ replied. "You already flipped it? Both sides are cooked?" "Yeah, I flipped it for you while you were dealing with the pancakes and getting the plates," he said. "There was another spatula in the drawer." He said holding it up. "Thanks." ___ said.

___ placed the pancake skillet back on the stove to cool as Tsukkishima walked over to the island placing some bacon onto each plate. ___ grabbed the syrup out of a cupboard and some softened butter off the counter, placing them on the island before grabbing two forks and knives. "You ready to eat?" She asked placing the silverware on the island. Tsukkishima took a seat and ___ took the seat next to him.

"Thanks for the meal," Tsukkishima said. "Thanks for the meal," ___ said. She grabbed some bacon with her fork, placing it into her mouth. "Hot! Hot!" She said opening and closing her mouth. "Well I could've told you that," Tsukkishima said snickering. He placed some butter on his pancakes before pouring on some syrup. ___ swallowed. "Soo hot, but soo worth it." She said. "Just eat your pancakes first," Tsukkishima said. "The bacon will be cool by the time you finish." "You're right," ___ said. "Besides, pancakes taste best when they are piping hot."

She spread some butter on her pancakes before pouring on some syrup, carefully cutting into them before putting a bite into her mouth. Tsukkishima did the same. "Oh my god, these are good!" Tsukkishima said. "I know right?" ___ said with her mouth full. She quickly scarfed down her pancakes. "Time for the bacon!" She said smiling. Tsukkishima laughed as he grabbed a piece and placed it into his mouth. "I might not be obsessed with meat like you, but bacon is good." He said.

___ placed a strip of bacon into her mouth. "I know right?!" They continued to eat their food until their plates were clean. "Oh crap! I forgot to leave some bacon for my dad!" She said. "You are so getting in trouble," Tsukkishima smirked. "He's just as obsessed with meat as you." "I know!" ___ said. "That's the problem!" She sighed. "I'll just make him some later. I'm not feeling up to it right now.. Mainly because if I make more right now I'm going to eat it." They both laughed and ___ looked at the clock above the stove.

"Holy crap! It's that late already?!" Tsukkishima looked at the clock. "I guess so," Tsukkishima said sighing. ___ pouted. "You should probably go if you're going to get home at a reasonable hour.." she said. "I'd rather just stay the night here.." Tsukkishima mumbled. "What?" ___ asked. "N-Nothing!" Tsukkishima said blushing. 'I could've sworn I just heard him say he wanted to stay the night here..' ___ thought. 'Maybe I heard wrong.. Then again, there's one way I can find out!' 

"Do you wanna stay the night Tsukki?" She asked blushing slightly. He turned crimson. "W-W-What?!" He said nearly choking. "You said you'd rather just stay the night right? So why don't you then?" "You're kidding right?" Tsukkishima asked. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" She asked. Tsukkishima peered at her face. "No," he said. "Exactly! 'Cause I'm not! Just do it if you wanna Tsukki, I doubt my dad is coming home tonight. If he was he would've been home by now. So there's no problem right? We can share my bed."

This time Tsukkishima did choke. "I'm going up stairs. Hurry up when you're ready." She said. "Don't forget to call your mom so she doesn't worry!" With that ___ headed towards her room. Tsukkishima sat there with a weird expression on his face before getting up and putting the plates in the sink. 'She does realise that I'm a guy.. right?' he thought.


	11. Staying The Night

After much contemplating, Tsukkishima called his mom and said he'd be staying at a friend's house tonight before heading up to ___'s room. "Did you decide yet?" ___ asked. She was flopped down on the middle of her bed. "Yeah," he said hesitantly. "I'll stay the night." "Really?! I thought for sure you were going to chicken out and say no." She laughed. She scooted over on her bed and patted the spot next to her. "Come on then, get nice and comfortable." 

Tsukkishima reluctantly sat down on the edge of her bed looking around. "Your room is so different from how it used to be," he said. "Well yeah," ___ said laughing. "I'm not a little kid anymore." He looked over at her wall before noticing some pictures pinned on a bulletin board. "Is that.. us?" He asked. She looked over. "Yeah! That's like my childhood shrine right there," she said. "It's got a lot of pictures of you, me, and Yamaguchi together along with things like movie ticket stubs and stuff. All sorts of stuff that bring back memories of my childhood."

He studied the pictures. "That brings back a lot of memories." He said. "Is that one there your sixth birthday?" He pointed. "Yeah!" She said. "That's the year that dad shoved my face in my cake 'cause he thought it would be a cute picture." "Well, it kinda is," Tsukkishima said. "We were so young back then.." "Who would've thought we'd be here, in my room as high schoolers?" She said. "We gotta make lots more memories so I can put it on my board." She took out her phone. 

"Come here! Let's take a picture right now!" She patted the spot right next to her, stretching out. "Are you sure I should be laying on your bed?" He asked blushing. "Why not?" She said. "Now come here!" He reluctantly laid down. She opened her camera app and turned it to her front-facing camera. "Tsukki, you're going to have to come closer than that if we're going to fit both of us in the picture." "Your phone has a front-facing camera?" He asked. "Yeah, it's a smartphone," she said. "Everyone in America has them."

She closed her camera app and showed him her home screen. "See? They have all sorts of fun apps. That and you've got your front-facing camera, your rear-facing camera, email, SMS, you can browse the internet.. you can pretty much do anything on it." She tossed it to him and he examined it before handing it back to her. "I still have a flip phone," he said. "Well if you ever wanna play around on my phone just ask. It's pretty fun actually. It has a bunch of games too."

She opened her camera app once again. "I still can't fit both of us in it," she said. "You're going to have to come closer." Tsukkishima scooted closer until their bodies were touching. "There we go," ___ said. "I still can't fit both of us in very well though.." She handed her phone to him. "You've got longer arms than me. Maybe you can fit us both in." He took the phone and held it out. They fit in perfectly. "Just press that big circle button there to take a picture."

Tsukkishima pressed the button. "I think I got it," he said. "Here, let me see." Tsukkishima handed the phone back and she opened her photo album. "Here it is," she said. She opened the photo. She was laying on the bed, her hair splayed out around her and Tsukkishima was laying next to her, an awkward smile on his face. "We look so cute together!" ___ said happily. "This is totally going to be my new lockscreen and background!" She quickly set them to the image. "There! Looks nice doesn't it?" She smiled.

"It does," Tsukkishima said. "Oh my god! I just realised I don't have your number!" She opened her contacts and selected add new contact before handing the phone to Tsukkishima. "Here, just type in your number." "Your keyboard is weird," he said as he typed in his number before handing it back to her. ___ laughed. "You get used to it." She said. She set Tsukkishima contact name to 'Tsukki~♡'. "And.. saved. Here, I'll text you now so you'll have my number." ___ quickly texted Tsukkishima a smiley face and two hearts, sending the message. Tsukkishima's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket.

"Got it." He said. He quickly added her to his contacts. "Here, let me send the photo we just took." She quickly sent the photo and Tsukkishima recieved it. "You should set it to your phone background too!" ___ said. Tsukkishima blushed and changed his background. "There! Now we have a new memory together and matching backgrounds!" She smiled. "It's getting late, should we go to bed soon?" ___ asked. 

"Yeah, but where am I going to sleep?" Tsukkishima asked. "I told you silly! We can share my bed! We used to do it all the time when we were kids! What's the problem?" Tsukkishima blushed. "Yeah, but it's different now.. We're grown up. It's not normal for teenagers to sleep together." He said. ___ blushed. "You obviously haven't met teenagers in America," she said. "They do a lot more than sleep together." ___ mentally kicked herself. 'Oh my god! Why did I say that?! It's not like we're a couple! We wouldn't be doing 'that'! What is wrong with me?!' 

Tsukkishima blushed. "Just.. don't make it weird." ___ said blushing. "Just pretend we're kids if you need to." ___ turned on her lamp before crawling over Tsukkishima to get up and turn off her light. "I'm going to go out some pyjamas on," she said grabbing a pair out of her drawer. "You can get undressed and get comfortable if you want." "Okay, thanks." Tsukkishima said blushing. He took off his jacket and set it on the floor while ___ went to the bathroom to change. Shortly later she returned wearing a pair of spandex and a tank top.

"Okay done!" She said throwing her uniform on the floor. She crawled over Tsukkishima and laid down. Tsukkishima blushed. "That's what you're wearing to bed?" He asked. "Yeah, what's wrong with it?" She asked. "This is what I normally wear to bed." "It's.. nothing." Tsukkishima said blushing. "Here Tsukki, get up for a sec. Let me pull down the covers." Tsukkishima got off the bed and ___ stood on her pillow, struggling to pull down the covers. Tsukkishima laughed.

"Wouldn't it be easier to get off the bed to pull down the covers?" "I do this all the.. time!" ___ said struggling. "Just give me a sec!" ___ jumped up in the air and pulled down the covers. "There! Got it!" ___ said. She laid back down. "You can lay back down now." She said. Tsukkishima laid down on the very edge of the bed and ___ rolled on her side. "Tsukki, you're going to fall off the bed like that." ___ said. "Just scoot closer to me." "I'm fine," Tsukkishima said pulling up the covers. "No you're not." ___ said.

She rolled back over and grabbed his arm, turning him so he was facing her and he was no longer hanging off the bed. There faces were only a few inches apart. They both blushed. "T-There.." she said. "You should be more comfortable now." She quickly rolled over so that her back was facing Tsukkishima. "I'm going to shut the light off now." She said pulling the covers up over her so that they were under the covers together. "T-That's fine." Tsukkishima said. He took off his glasses. "Could you set these on your bedside table?" He asked. "Sure," she said taking them. She set them on the table before turning off her lamp. "Goodnight Tsukki," she said. "goodnight ___," he said back. "Sweet dreams," she whispered. "You too," he whispered back.

They both slowly drifted off to sleep.


	12. Waking Up

___'s alarm clock went off and she quickly slapped it, turning it off before stretching. She felt someone's arms around her. She rubbed her eyes. 'Who..' she looked over her shoulder to find a sleeping Tsukkishima. She blushed. 'That's right.. Tsukkishima stayed over last night. He must have wrapped his arms around me in his sleep.' She rolled over so that she was facing him. 'He looks so cute when he's asleep.' She blushed. 'I'd hate to wake him up.' 

She glanced at her clock. 'I can watch him sleep for a few more minutes,' she thought. 'I'll let him rest for now.' ___ watched his sleeping face for awhile before turning around to look at her clock. 'I'm going to have to wake him up now if we are going to have time to eat breakfast before we go.' She began to stroke his hair.

"Tsukki, it's time to wake up now," she whispered. "Mmh.." he mumbled. He hugged her tighter. She blushed. "Tsukki, you gotta wake up. We have to eat breakfast and go to school." "Five more minutes.." he mumbled not opening his eyes. "I already let you sleep in," she whispered. "You gotta wake up now if we're going to get to school on time." He slowly opened his eyes.

"Morning," she said. Tsukkishima blushed. "I'm sorry! I.. I must have hugged you in my sleep." He quickly pulled his arms away. "It's okay Tsukki, I don't mind." She blushed. "It felt kinda nice actually.." she whispered. The blush on his cheeks brightened. "Where are my glasses?" He asked. ___ turned over and grabbed them before facing him again. "They're right here," she said handing them to him. He quickly put them on and looked at her face. "Thanks," he said. "No problem," she said smiling. 

Tsukkishima rolled over and got out of bed. "What time is it?" He asked. ___ looked at the clock. "7:45," she said. "I let you sleep in a bit." "Aren't we going to be late?" He asked picking up his jacket and putting it on. "It only takes about five minutes to walk to school. Just let me change and then we can go. We don't have time for breakfast anymore, sorry." She frowned.

"It's okay, I don't normally eat breakfast on school days anyways." ___ crawled out of bed and grabbed her uniform off the floor. "I'm going to go get changed, you can wait for me downstairs." "Okay," he said as she left the room. ___ quickly walked to the bathroom and changed before brushing her hair. 'Well 'that' was fun.' she thought. She quickly walked downstairs. Tsukkishima was waiting for her.

"You ready?" Tsukkishima asked. He already had his backpack slung over his shoulder as he stood by the door. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. "Yeah, just let me grab an apple." She walked into the kitchen and grabbed two apples before heading back into the living room. "I got you one too," she said as she tossed the apple to him. He caught it. "Thanks," he said. "Let's go," she said slipping on her shoes. Tsukkishima slipped his on and they walked out the door. She turned around to lock it.

"Alright, we can go now." She said. They began walking. "That was fun," she said smiling. "What was?" He asked looking over at her. "Spending the night together," she said. "Don't you think?" Tsukkishima blushed. "Y-Yeah, it was.." he said. She smiled. "We should do it more often." They passed the park.

"Oh my god Tsukki! You're hair's a mess!" "I forgot to brush it," he said blushing. "Here, bend down and I'll fix it." Tsukkishima stopped walking and bent down. ___ licked her fingers and combed them through his hair. "There, got it!" ___ said. Tsukkishima stood back up. "Thanks," he said. They kept walking.

Not long later and they arrived at school. They saw Yamaguchi standing near the entrance on his phone. "Yamaguchi!" ___ yelled running up to him. "___!" He said looking up. He quickly put his phone in his pocket. Yamaguchi looked behind her. "You walked to school with Tsukki?" He asked. She blushed. "Y-Yeah.." she laughed awkwardly. "We kinda slept together last night.." 

Yamaguchi looked at her then at Tsukki. He raised his eyebrows in suprise. "Does that mean that you two.." "No, no, no!" ___ quickly waved her arms blushing. "It's nothing like that! He just stayed for dinner, and by the time we were done it was super late so I said he could stay the night! That's all!" "Oh, I see.." Yamaguchi said. "Well good for you!" He gave her a high-five. "You're getting closer with him, so that's a start!"

Just then Tsukkishima walked up. "What are you two talking about?" Tsukkishima asked. "N-Nothing!" ___ said blushing. "It's not important," Yamaguchi said smiling. "So how'd you sleep?" Tsukkishima blushed. "G-Good.." he said. "What about you?" Yamaguchi smirked. "I slept just fine! Probably not as good as you though." Just then the bell rang. "Well, time to get to class!" Yamaguchi said. The three began walking.

They reached the first year classrooms and Yamaguchi spoke up. "Well, this is my class. I'll see you guys at lunch alright?" "See ya then!" ___ said with a little wave. Tsukkishima nodded. "Later!" Yamaguchi said walking into class. ___ and Tsukkishima continued walking until they reached their classroom. They entered and sat down. 

Tsukkishima rested his face on his hand and stared absentmindedly forwards. ___ poked his cheek. Tsukkishima looked over. "Can I help you?" He asked. "If you're going to look so listless then why not talk to me?" She asked. Tsukkishima sat up. "What do you want to talk about?" He asked. "Hmm.." ___ pondered. "What do you want to talk about?" "If I knew I wouldn't have asked you." Tsukkishima said as he tapped his pencil on his desk.

"How was cuddling last night?" ___ asked. She immediately blushed. 'Of 'all' the things I could have picked to talk about I picked that!' She mentally kicked herself. Tsukkishima coughed. "It was ah.." he blushed. "It was nice." He said quietly. "O-Oh.." ___ said. "I liked it too." She looked away. Just then the bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom. 'Saved by the bell,' ___ thought. 'My heart couldn't take that a second more!' 


	13. Meat & Memories

After several boring lectures and enough note taking to make your hand cramp, it was finally time the only interesting thing about school. Lunch. ___ put her pencil and highlighters in her pencil case and closed her notebook, placing them in her bag before turning to Tsukkishima who sat there idely. "Tsukki! What time is it?" "It's time for lunch," he responded coolly. "Exactly! So get ready and let's go!" 

___ jumped out of her seat. "Why are you so excited?" He asked. "We forgot to make lunch last night." ___'s smile instantly dropped. "You mean dad coming home in the middle of the night and making us steak for lunch was just a dream?! Oh my god.. I could cry!" She pouted severely. Just then Yamaguchi tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around. He looked at her face.

"What's wrong?!" He asked. The expression on her face concerned him. "I.. I.." she looked down, looking as if she were about to cry. Yamaguchi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry! Tell me what happened!" "I forgot to make lunch!" She wailed. Yamaguchi was taken aback with that response. "That's all?" He asked holding back his laughter. "What do you mean that's all?! This is a full blown crisis!" ___ yelled. She paced around in a circle before stopping.

"I got it!" She yelled smiling, holding a finger up. "I can just go home and make something for lunch!" "There you go!" Yamagichi said. "See? Crisis averted!" She threw on her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed Tsukkishima's hand, roughly pulling him out of his seat before taking Yamaguchi's hand in her other, marching towards the door. She practically dragged them behind her before turning around to them in the hallway.

"What are you two being so slow for?! Let's go!" She yelled. She took off running, this time practically dragging them for real. They quickly made their way outside and down the street before she let go of their hands by the park. "You guys are just slowing me down," she said. She ran across the street. "Hey Tsukki! You can show him where I live!" She yelled over her shoulder as she kept running. They quickly ran after her. "I forgot how she gets when she doesn't have meat!" Yamaguchi said panting as he ran after her. "Me too," Tsukkishima said huffing.

___ finally arrived at her house and unlocked the door kicking off her shoes. Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima quickly caught up with her and followed her inside, taking off their shoes. ___ ran to the kitchen and threw the fridge open. 'Meat.. meat..' she thought as she searched the fridge. "Aha! We have Polish sausage!" She yelled throwing the package on the counter. "These don't take that long to make!"

She quickly grabbed a skillet and turned on the heat, pouring in some oil before cutting up the Polish sausages into slices and throwing them into the pan. She turned up the heat. "There! On this heat they should be done quickly." She grabbed three oranges, throwing them on the island. Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima walked in taking a seat as ___ tended to the sausages.

"There! Done!" She said. She grabbed three plates and put some on each one, putting one plate infront of Tsukkishima and one infront of Yamaguchi, before placing one infront of the empty seat inbetween them and grabbed some silverware putting them down next to each plate. She quickly ran around the island and took a seat. "Thanks for the meal!" She yelled before digging in. She quickly cleaned her plate.

"Ahh.. that's better." She said as she stretched out. She then noticed Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima staring at her. "What?" She asked innocently looking between them. They both laughed. "You went crazy again." Tsukkishima said. "You always do this when you don't have meat." Yamaguchi added. She pouted. "Well sorry for being hungry!" She said. "Aren't you guys going to eat?" Tsukkishima slowly took a bite.

Yamaguchi spoke up timidly. "Thank you for the meal, but I have my own lunch," he said placing his lunchbox on the island. "Oh yeah.. right." She blushed in embarrassment. "Well, more for me then!" She grabbed his plate and pulled it infront of her before helping herself to her second serving. They all ate quietly until everyone was done. ___ looked at the clock. "Well, we still have a lot of time left before lunch is over." She said.

Yamaguchi spoke up. "This house looks exactly like your old one," he said looking around. "The layout is the same and so is the outside." "I know right?!" ___ said looking around. "If you guys were to paint over the beige with white it would pretty much be exactly the same." Yamaguchi said. ___ looked around. "I wonder if dad would go for it," she said. "Beige is such an ugly colour.. it's like a wannabe brown." "You could ask him," Tsukkishima said. "He just might go for it." "Yeah, true.." ___ said. "I doubt he likes it either. He said something about wanting to completely cover the walls with decor. I think that's just his way of saying 'I hate the walls'." She laughed.

"He would probably make me do it all though," she added. "I can't really imagine my dad painting a living room." "More likely he would hire someone to do it," Tsukkishima said. "I doubt he'd make you do all the work." "If he doesn't, I could probably help you paint," Yamaguchi said. "It could be fun!" He looked around. "You haven't gotten much unpacking done huh," he said. "Yeah, dad is so busy with work he hasn't done much unpacking. I don't think he even unpacked his own room yet to be honest," ___ said. "I saw him grabbing his suit out of a box yesterday."

"Me and Tsukki could probably help you unpack this weekend," Yamaguchi said as he placed his lunchbox into his bag and set it on the floor. "I'm free Sunday." "Me too," Tsukkishima said. "Really?! You guys are the best!" She pulled both of them into a side hug. "That would be a huge help." "It's not a problem," Yamaguchi said. "We don't mind." Tsukkishima added. "Did you at least get your room unpacked?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yeah, It's the first thing I did," ___ said. "You wanna see it?" She asked. "Sure," Yamaguchi said standing up. ___ quickly stood up. "Come on! I'll show you!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs. Tsukkishima followed.

"This is my room!" She said as she pushed open the door. "It's the second on the left, just like it used to be." Yamaguchi said. They stepped inside and Yamaguchi looked around. "It's nice," he said. "You know, with everything else being so close to the same, I half expected your room to be the same as when I last saw it." "I did too," Tsukkishima said. "I was really shocked at first too. I remembered her old room like I just saw it yesterday." ___ laughed. "Come on guys," she said. "I had to grow up eventually! I doubt your guys' rooms look exactly the same either." "They definitely do not." Yamaguchi said laughing.

They walked further in. "Hey, is that a memory board?" Yamaguchi asked walking closer to it. "Yep!" ___ said. "It's my childhood shrine." Yamaguchi examined the pictures. "Hey, is that the ticket stub to that one movie we went to?" He asked. "The very same one!" ___ said. "It's the first time I went to a movie without my dad." "It's the first time I went to a movie alone too," Yamaguchi said. "I remember how we thought it was a good idea to sit in the front row. We spent the whole time craning our necks to see the screen. I had a kink in my neck for a week."

___ laughed. "Totally worth it though. And how we got the extra large popcorn and thought we could finish it ourselves." "At least we finished half of it," Yamaguchi said laughing. "I think I stretched out my stomach that day." "Me too," ___ said. Yamaguchi examined the rest of the board smiling. "There are so many memories here.." he said. "I think I still have an old photo album of us somewhere too." "You should bring it on Sunday," ___ said. "I think my dad has Sunday off, so we could all unpack and look at the photos while dad whips up something nice on the grill." "Sounds perfect," he said. "I'm in," Tsukkishima said.

___ glanced at her alarm clock. "Shoot! Lunch will be over soon!" She said. Tsukkishima glanced at the clock. "We should probably head back," he said. They left her room and she closed the door before they headed downstairs and grabbed their things. "Shall we go?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yeah, let's go." ___ said. They slipped on their shoes and stepped outside and ___ locked the door. They began walking back.

"That was fun!" Yamaguchi said. "I can't wait for Sunday!" "Me neither," Tsukkishima said. "It'll be fun." "And productive," ___ added. "Unpacking on my own freaking sucks!" They arrived at the school and heard the lunch bell ring. "And so the fun comes to an end.." ___ said sighing. "Hey, we'll have fun again soon!" Yamaguchi said patting her on the back as they walked to class. "Just think about Sunday." Tsukkishima said placing a hand on her shoulder. ___ sighed. "Now it's time for that dumb history test.." she groaned. "You guys have one too?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yep," ___ said. "I think all the first years do. It's to prepare for the spring finals." She said.

Now it was time for Yamaguchi to groan. "Please don't remind me," he said. "You'll do fine," Tsukkishima said. "You both will." He said. "Yeah, but I don't have the natural smarts that you and ___ have," Yamaguchi said sighing. "Just remember what we went over," Tsukkishima said. "I'll help you too." ___ added. "Thanks guys," Yamaguchi said. "Anyways, this is my stop. I'll see you guys later." "Bye bye!" ___ said. "Good luck!" "Thanks," Yamaguchi said. "I'll need it." Tsukkishima and ___ kept walking.

They arrived at their classroom and walked in, taking a seat. ___ pulled out her notebook and started going over her notes. "God I hate history.." she said. "Who cares about all this boring stuff that happened in the past!" "At least it's over the Meiji era," Tsukkishima said. "It's a little interesting. At least compaired to other things." "Yeah, but it's the Meiji Restoration! Not the earlier parts!" ___ whined. "We skipped right over the fun parts about samurai and went straight to the boring stuff.. Why can't we go over the Edo period instead?!" "Let's just get it over with," Tsukkishima said. "After the test is science so at least we'll get to do some fun lab." "True," ___ said. "I like science." "I know," Tsukkishima said with a smile. "Me too."


	14. Sunday Fun Day

Watching Friday's practice was fun with the boys having a practice match against each other. The quick attacks, the blocking, the recieves.. and that oh so famous quick attack. ___ loved watching her best friends try their hardest while having fun. With Friday ending and the weekend beginning ___ spent Saturday hard at work unpacking while her father worked and the boys had their Saturday practice. Now, it was finally the day she's been waiting for:

Sunday

___ woke up and stretched. She slept in until eleven o'clock and Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi would be here in an hour. She slowly climbed out of bed and grabbed her favourite tank top and jeans before heading to the bathroom to change. After changing into her clothes she brushed her teeth and combed her hair before heading downstairs. She spotted her father in the kitchen washing the dishes.

"Daddy! Finally! You have a day off!" She ran up and hugged him and he laughed, rubbing her head and messing up her hair. She laughed. "I thought you were going to sleep all day!" He said. "There are pancakes and bacon on the table, I know how much you love them." He let go of her and continued to wash the dishes. ___ sat down at the island and began to eat.

"Hey dad, I haven't gotten the chance to tell you yet, but I have some friends coming over today at noon. I can't wait for you to meet them." ___ said as she scarfed down her pancakes. "That's great sweetheart, I'm glad you're making friends," he said. "You're going to be so surprised when you see them," she said trying to hide her smirk. "I know you'll love them." "I'm sure I will," he said as he dried off the dishes.

___ cleaned her plate and brought it to the sink, handing it to her father. "Hey dad, will you grill for us later?" She asked. He looked over. "A chance to test out the new grill? Of course I will!" He cheered. "I was looking for an excuse to fire it up. This is perfect!" "Do we have any steaks?" ___ asked opening the fridge. "Only two," he said as he put the dishes away. "You might want to run to the store before your friends get here unless just franks and hamburgers are fine." "I'll go there now," ___ said. "There's some money in my left coat pocket hanging on the rack. Go ahead and use that." He said. "Thanks daddy!" She said giving him a hug.

"Can I take the car?" ___ asked grabbing the keys and the money. "I'm not sure if your license is valid here sweetheart, the minimum driving age here in Japan is eighteen unlike America." He said as he put the last dish away. "Pretty pleaseee?" ___ asked as she tried to be cute as possible. "Well, the nearest grocery store is only about three blocks away, so it should be okay just this one time. Just stay safe and be careful alright?" "I will!" She said grabbing her coat. "See you in a bit!" "Drive safe!" Her dad called after as she walked out the door.

___ got in the car and started the engine before pulling out and driving to the store. She parked the car and got out before heading in. 'This is a pretty small store' she thought. 'I hope they have steak.' She walked down the aisles before finding the meat department. 'Steak.. steak..' she repeated in her head as she browsed the meat section. 'Here it is!' She grabbed a four pack of t-bone steaks before heading to the checkout. The clerk quickly scanned her steaks and put them in a bag and she handed him the money. "Have a great day!" He said. "Thanks! You too!" ___ said as she quickly skipped out of the store.

She got in the car and headed home. After parking the car and entering her house she spotted her father unpacking boxes in the living room. "Got it!" She said as she put the extra money and keys in his coat pocket on the rack. "Just put them on the counter, your friends will be here in about fifteen minutes. I'll take them out back to the grill in a second." He dad said as he unpacked a clock and hung it on the wall. ___ placed the steaks on the counter and jumped up on the island, drumming her fingers idely. 'Just fifteen more minutes..'

Fifteen minutes passed by in a breeze as she helped her father unpack and she heard a knock on the door. "They're here!" ___ squeaked dropping the picture frame. She paced back and forth in excitement. "You might want to get the door," her father said chuckling. "You can dance around antsy later." "Oh yeah! Right!" ___ said as she ran over to the door. She quickly opened it. "Heya guys! Come on in!" She stepped aside to let them in and Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi stepped in. "Call him dad, it'll be funny." ___ whispered into their ears.

"Hey dad!" Yamaguchi yelled stepping forwards toward her father. "Welcome back to Japan." Tsukkishima said. Her father whipped his head around. "Holy shit!" He yelled. "Dad! Language!" ___ yelled giggling. "You didn't tell me you were bringing over little Yamaguchi and Tsukki!" They blushed. "Well, I guess you guys aren't that little anymore. Nice to see you again!" Her father said stopping what he was doing and walking over to give each of them a hug. They hugged him back.

"Let's get this grill fired up!" Her father yelled. "Make yourselves at home, and try not to trip over the boxes!" "Will do." Tsukkishima said. ___ gave them both a hug. "See? I told you he'd be happy! He even swore!" ___ giggled as she gave them both a hug. "Let's go out back!" She said slipping on her shoes. They walked through the house following her father until they arrived in the backyard. "You guys sure are eager, but the steaks won't be done for at least an hour and a half or so," her father said chuckling as he poured some charcoal in the grill. "Run along and play while the flame master does his job." He lit the grill and moved his arms in a grand motion. 

"Let there be flames!" He said in a dramatic voice holding his hands in the air as the flames rose into the air. ___, Tsukkishima, and Yamaguchi laughed. "He's right, we should head inside." ___ said as she giggled, turning around. They headed back inside and closed the sliding door. "Your dad sure does love fire," Yamaguchi said snirking, failing to stifle his laughter. Tsukkishima busted out laughing, not bothering to hide his laughter. "He's just so.. weird!" He said between fits of laughter. ___ giggled. "That's my dad!" She said.

She headed to her room and they followed. She sat on her bed and they took a seat on either side of her. "So, what should we do?" Tsukkishima asked. "What do you guys want to do?" ___ asked bouncing excitedly on her bed. "Oh! I have the photo album!" Yamaguchi said quickly taking it out of his bag. "I nearly forgot!" "The photo album is the only reason you brought a bag, how could you forget?" Tsukkishima asked. "Does it really matter?" Yamaguchi said blushing. "Here it is." He handed it to ___ and she glanced at the cover.

"Memories are forever, always make more." ___ read off the cover as she stroked the leather. She slowly opened the cover. "Woah!" ___ said looking at the pictures. "This is like a time capsule! I'm having flashbacks!" "Me too," Tsukkishima said as he looked at the pictures. "It's amazing that my mom kept this, isn't it?!" Yamaguchi said. "It really is.. at first I always thought it was annoying how she constantly followed us with a camera, but now I'm glad she did." ___ said examining the photographs.

They slowly flipped through the album looking carefully at each and every photo. "Oh look! Here's us at the park!" ___ said pointing. "I remember that day!" "That's the day you twisted your ankle and Tsukki had to carry you back home." Yamaguchi said looking at the photo. "Tsukki you were so strong! You were my hero. You always saved me and helped me when I needed it." ___ said reminiscing. Tsukkishima blushed. 

"Oh hey! What about this picture!" Yamaguchi said pointing to the picture next to it. "Look! You're kissing Tsukki on the cheek!" ___ and Tsukkishima blushed. "Tsukki was the first boy I ever kissed.." ___ said. "Wait what?!" Tsukkishima said wiping his head around. Yamaguchi snickered, holding back his laughter poorly. "On the cheek! On the cheek I mean!" ___ said quickly turning crimson. Tsukkishima's flush brightened. "I haven't kissed Tsukki for reals yet.." she mumbled. "Yet." Yamaguchi said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. ___ punched him in the shoulder and Tsukkishima cleared his throat.

"What about this picture?" He said pointing to the one below it. "Ah, I remember that!" ___ said smiling happily. "My 10th birthday.." Yamaguchi says nostalgically. "Double digets!" ___ cheered. "Your party was a blast! I mean, you even had a bouncy castle!" Yamaguchi laughed. "Haha, yes I remember that. A certain someone here kept trying to launch me into the air." He said glaring. "Hey! Don't look at me!" ___ said defensively. "Tsukkishima told me to do it!" They both glared at Tsukkishima.

"Hey, you've got to admit, it was pretty funny when Yamaguchi's head hit the top of the castle and he fell on his butt." Tsukkishima said smirking. "It was not!" Yamaguchi said. "You guys launched me into the top so hard I had a bump for a week! A bump!" Tsukkishima and ___ laughed. "Okay, I admit, it was a little funny." ___ said giggling. "For you guys maybe! Landing really hurt!" "Yamaguchi it was a bouncy castle, how bad could it have possibly hurt?" ___ said chuckling. "Bad enough to make him still butthurt about it today," Tsukkishima said smirking.

___ bust out laughing. "Butt.. hurt!" She wheezed. "Great pun Tsukki!" She slapped him on the back. "I know," he said, the smirk never leaving his face, and Yamaguchi cracked a smile before joining in on the laughter. "Okay, I'll admit it, it was a little fun being launched, at least until I hit my head and landed on my ass." He said. "That's the spirit!" ___ said ruffling his hair. "Hey! Cut it out!" Yamaguchi whined laughing. "You're going to mess up my hair!" "I got this." Tsukkishima said. 

He pulled ___ into his lap and put her in a headlock ruffling her hair. "Oh my god Tsukki! Stoppp! I'll be good, I swear!" She said laughing. He kept going. "Oh yeah? Since when have you ever been good?" He said smirking as he continued to mess up her hair. "Since now!" She said giggling. Tsukkishima reluctantly let her go. ___ got up and looked into her mirror. "Oh my god! What did you do to my hair?!" "What you did to Yamaguchi's." Tsukkishima said smirking.

She glanced in the mirror once again, looking behind her reflection to see Yamaguchi, his hair disheveled, standing straight up. She doubled over laughing. "Oh my god Yamaguchi! You look like shit!" She said between fits of laughter. He pulled his hands up to his hair. "That bad huh?" He said with an embarrassed smile on his face. "That bad," ___ said as she stood up, no longer holding her sides laughing. Yamaguchi ran his fingers through his hair before looking over into the mirror. He bust out laughing. "Correction, we both look like shit." He said.

Tsukkishima sat there watching as the two stood there in the mirror trying to fix their disheveled hair. ___ leaned over to Yamaguchi and whispered. "You know what needs to be done right?" "Oh yeah!" He whispered back. They both stopped trying to fix their hair and they coolly walked back over to Tsukkishima, standing in front of him. "Oh Tsukki!" ___ said in a sing song voice. "There's a present we've been meaning to give you," Yamaguchi said with a devilish smirk. "What?" He asked. They began closing in on him.

Yamaguchi tackled Tsukkishima to the bed and ___ quickly jumped behind him putting him in a headlock. "We forgot to fix your hair!" ___ said as she wrapped her legs around his torso and began to screw up his hair with her fist in a nougie. Yamaguchi held him down. "You don't wanna feel left out now, do you Tsukki?" Yamaguchi said grinning ear to ear as he watched his friend being tortured as he pinned him down. Tsukkishima squirmed but Yamaguchi and ___ held him firmly in place.

"Hey! Cut it out you guys, would you?!" He said as he struggled against their hold. "Not a chance!" ___ said as she continued to mess up his hair. She continued to mess it up for awhile before releasing him from her chokehold and unwrapping her legs from around him and Yamaguchi got off of him. Tsukkishima jumped up and ran towards the mirror. The other two joined him at his sides. ___ bust out laughing.

"Now we all look like shit!" She said as she doubled over in laughter. They soon joined her in laughing. Just then they heard a voice coming from downstairs. "The steaks are done!" ___'s dad called. "C-Coming dad!" ___ said between fits of laughter. They finally calmed down. "We should go outside now," she said, a huge smile on her face. "Yeah, let's go." Tsukkishima said. They all headed downstairs.

___ opened the sliding door and the pleasant aroma hit her. "Mmm! Smells amazing! The spice master is at it again!" ___ said inhaling the delectable smell deeply. "That's flame master to you young lady," her father said as he plated the steaks. "There's baked potatoes here too if you guys want them." For the first time since they came out he turned around. "Wow! You guys all look like shit!" He doubled over laughing, nearly dropping his spatula. "Gee, thanks dad.." ___ said sarcastically before giggling.

"I'm sorry, but it's true!" He said, finally regaining his composure. "What exactly.. happened?" He asked. "Revenge." All three of them said in unison before looking at one another. ___ giggled and grabbed her plate and a baked potato before sitting down at the picnic table. Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi did the same taking a seat on either side of her before they were joined by her father who sat on the opposite side of them. He threw down some silverware infront of them. "Dig in!" He said. "Happy to," ___ said as she unwrapped the tinfoil from her baked potato.

The four of them began eating. "And so the meat master does it again.." Yamaguchi said after taking a bite of his steak. "Flame master," Tsukkishima corrected him. "See? Tsukkishima gets it!" Her father said between bites. "Oh! I almost forgot the napkins!" ___'s father got up and placed a pile of napkins on the table before sitting down again. ___ grabbed one and wiped her mouth giggling. "Today was fun," she said. "It sure was," Tsukkishima said. "Ditto." Yamaguchi said chewing his food. The four continued to eat.

"Done!" ___ said dropping her fork and knife on the table. "Me too." Tsukkishima said gently setting his silverware down. "Same here," Yamaguchi said wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I was done before all three of you," ___'s father said collecting their silverware. "You always are," ___ said. "You're not wrong," ___'s father said getting up. "There's some franks and hamburgers on the grill if you guys are still hungry," he said. "I'm alright," Tsukkishima said. "Maybe in a bit," Yamaguchi said standing up. He collected his and Tsukkishima's paper plates and stopped before grabbing ___'s. "I'm done too." She said. Yamaguchi grabbed her plate and placed the plates in the trash bag tied to the grill.

"We're going to go start unpacking," ___ said opening the sliding door. "Don't mind me, I'll just be tending to the flames," her father said with a grand gesture. ___ laughed. So did Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi. "Come help us when you're done," ___ said over her shoulder as she stepped into the house. "Will do!" Her father said as he flipped a hamburger. They went inside.

They headed towards the living room and ___ unstacked three boxes. "Alright guys, you ready for this?" She asked. She pretended to roll up her sleeves. "Ready," Tsukkishima said kneeling infront of one of the boxes. ___ ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife off the counter, handing it to Tsukkishima so he could open the box. Tsukkishima opened it and handed it to Yamaguchi, who opened his box and then handed the knife to ___. "This is going to be a long afternoon.." she said with a sigh. "At least it will be productive," Tsukkishima said. "And there's more food on the grill for when we're done," Yamaguchi added. "I can't wait to have another baked potato. I just pretend that they're one giant french fry." "You and french fries," ___ said giggling. "Well, let's get to work!"

They began unpacking.


	15. I'll Hold Your Hand

It was Monday morning and ___ woke up feeling unusually confident. 'I don't know what's with me, but I feel like I could run a damn army!' She thought. 'You know what? I just might do it today. I just might confess.' She slipped on her uniform and brushed her hair and teeth before heading downstairs into the kitchen. She quickly noticed a plate of food and a note on the island. She read it to herself. 

'Thanks for all the help yesterday sweetheart, I had fun. Tell Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi that they are welcome over anytime. I made you breakfast and your lunch is in the fridge. Good luck on your biology test today, not that you'll need it. Love, Dad'. 

"Oh my god that's so sweet!" She said to herself. "He never leaves me notes!" She quickly ate the omelette he had made for her and drank the orange juice before getting up and putting her plate in the sink, grabbing her lunchbox out of the fridge. 'I think I have an idea of what's in here, and I am 'very' excited.' She thought to herself as she gently shook her lunchbox. She headed towards the door and grabbed her backpack, putting the lunchbox in it before slinging it over her shoulder and slipping on her shoes. She exited the door and locked it before she started walking to school.

She crossed the street and arrived at the park. 'You know what? I feel like running. I'm going to run! With my eyes closed! Just like when I was a kid!' She told herself. 'I don't have Tsukkishima or Yamaguchi to guide me by the hand this time, but it's a straight shoot to school from here so I should be fine.' She put the other strap of her backpack on her other arm so it wouldn't bounce around as much and she squeezed her eyes shut before she took off running as fast as she could, her arms held out to the side.

'Wee! I feel like I'm flying!' She spun in a little circle before she continued to run. 'I wonder if I'm close to school yet?' She thought. 'It's only two blocks from the park after all..' Just as she began to squeeze her eyes open she felt herself collide with a massive force. She fell backwards onto her butt. "Oww!" She said. "What did I run into?! A tree?!" She rubbed her butt looking down.

"No, you ran into me." A voice said. But not just any voice.. His voice. She looked up to find a very irked Tsukkishima staring down at her. He held his hand out to her to help her up and she took it. "Thanks," she said as he pulled her up. "Just what were you doing running so carelessly around the school?" He asked looking irritated. She dusted herself off. "I was running." She said. "Yeah, I got that much," he said. "But why?" 

"Well, you know how sometimes when we were kids i would just take off running with my eyes closed and you or Yamaguchi would grab my hand and run along aside me so I didn't run into a tree or another kid or something?" She said embarrassedly. "Please tell me that's not what you were doing.." he groaned. "That is exactly what I was doing." ___ said scratching the back of her neck. "I didn't think I would run into anyone though, much less you." His eyebrow twitched. 

"___, it's a school day! Do you know how many kids walk to school on this road?! You could've easily plowed over anyone! You shouldn't do such stupid things!" He scolded her. "Yeah.. but I didn't! I only ran into you!" She said defensively. "And you're built like a tree so it's not like I would've knocked you to the ground or anything.." He sighed. "And what would you have done if it hadn't been me?" "Hope it would've been Yamaguchi?" She said embarrassedly. He sighed even louder this time.

"Honestly.. you are just so careless sometimes.." He firmly took her hand in his. ___ blushed. "W-What are you doing?" She asked. "Since I can't trust you to walk on your own, I'll have to walk with you." He said looking forwards. He began walking but ___ stayed put. "Come on!" He said tugging her hand. "I can walk on my own just fine!" She said, her blush darkening. "Well, based on what happened five minutes ago, you obviously can't." He said looking impatient.

'Damn! I made Tsukki mad.. He gets scary when he's mad.. I kinda wish it 'was' Yamaguchi that I ran into now.. Yamaguchi would've been all like, 'Oh my god are you okay?!' bending down to help me up and check me for wounds, and then he would've told me to be careful and then we would've laughed about what happened later. He wouldn't get all pissy like Tsukki is right now though..' She thought to herself. 

"F-Fine!" She said as she reluctantly began walking. "But do you really have to hold my hand?!" "Yes." Tsukkishima said firmly as he continued walking. They arrived at the school hand in hand, fingers laced together as ___ spotted Yamaguchi sitting on the front steps. "Yamaguchi!" ___ yelled. He looked up. "___!" He said waving. ___ tried to take off running towards him but Tsukkishima pulled her back. 

"Tsukki let go! I want to go say hi to Yamaguchi!" ___ whined as she tried to squirm out of his grip. "Not yet," Tsukkishima said. "I'll let go when we're sitting safely in class." ___ blushed. 'So that means we're going to be holding hands in the hallway too?!' "Can you.. at least.. hurry.. up!" She said as she tried pulling him forwards, but Tsukkishima wouldn't budge. "Just walk beside me like a good girl," Tsukkishima said as he patted her head. 'Damnnit Tsukki! What am I, five to you?!' 

She gave up on trying to pull him and they took their dear sweet time walking up to Yamaguchi. "Everything okay ___? You didn't run up to me today like you normally do." He said standing up, dusting off his pants. "I.. tried!" ___ said. "But this big dummy doesn't trust me to walk on my own anymore so he held me back!" Yamaguchi looked down and saw that her left hand was linked to his right. "You're going to have to walk me through this.." Yamaguchi said with a straight face.

"Well here I was, making my way to school just fine on my own, and I run straight into this big dummy. He said he couldn't 'trust me' to walk on my own anymore so he grabbed my hand and he says he won't let go until we're seated safely in class!" "That's.. ahem.. interesting.." Yamaguchi said, still clearly confused. Tsukkishima cleared his throat. "Ahem.. you're leaving out some vital details." He said. "When she says she ran 'straight into me'.. she left out the minor detail that she literally ran straight into me. She had the brilliant idea of running with her eyes closed all the way to school."

"Why is that so bad now?! I used to do it all the time when we were kids!" ___ whined. Yamaguchi laughed. "Yes, but you had us with you then. We weren't going to let you run into anybody or a tree or anything. Also, we did this at a park, not on a busy street with a lot of foot traffic." "I wish I ran into a tree.." ___ mumbled. "The tree wouldn't have been so harsh with me.." Tsukkishima sighed and brought their combined hands up to his forehead so he could wipe it. "This is for your own good." He said, pushing up his glasses. "Yamaguchiii! Help meee!" ___ pleaded. "Sorry ___, but I kind of think Tsukki is making the right call here. At least.. to a degree anyways." He said. "Just make sure you actually let her go when you get to class," he said with a cheerful grin and a chuckle.

Tsukkishima blushed. "O-Of course I'll let her go!" He said embarrassedly. "I'm just making sure she gets to class safe that's all! It's not like I want to hold her hand or anything!" ___ blushed. 'He really is going to hold my hand all the way to class..' "She does need full usage of her hands for class after all." Yamaguchi said with a chuckle. "I feel all left out though, let me hold your other hand." Yamaguchi said standing beside her. ___ held out her hand to Yamaguchi but Tsukkishima pulled her closer to him. "It's fine Yamaguchi, I've got her under control." He blushed.

___ blushed at his possessiveness. Yamaguchi shrugged. "Suit yourself. I can always walk her to school another time," Yamaguchi said. Tsukkishima grinded his teeth. "It's fine, I'll walk her from now on." "I can walk myself you know!" ___ said pouting. "Just shut up and let me walk you from now on." Tsukkishima said blushing, looking away. Before ___ could protest, the school bell rang.

"Come on Tsukki, let's go. We have that big biology test today and I want to brush up on my notes before class starts!" ___ said tugging his hand. "My dad wrote me a cute note this morning cheering me on for the test today, I have to get a 100!" "When have you ever not gotten a 100 on a science course?" Tsukkishima asked sighing. "I don't know, never? But my dad is cheering me on this time so i gotta make sure I do extra good! So let's go already!" She began tugging on his hand once again. "Alright, let's go." Tsukkishima said as they began walking. 

Just like Tsukkishima said, he held her hand all throughout the hallways and into he classroom until finally they sat down. "Alright, we're sitting. You can let go of me now." ___ said sighing. "What if I don't want to let go?" Tsukkishima said blushing, staring out the window. ___'s face turned bright red. "At least let me take off my backpack would you?" I can't get it off with our hands linked like this.." ___ said shyly. "Oh.. right." Tsukkishima said. He reluctantly let go of her hand and she took off her backpack, taking her things out of it and setting them on her desk before setting her bag on the floor beside her.

"Okay, you can hold my hand again now if you want," she said blushing. She held out her hand and closed her eyes. Just as she felt his fingertips graze hers she panicked and pulled her hand away. "J-Just kidding!" She quickly said. "Oh yeah.. Right." Tsukkishima mumbled pulling his own hand back. 'Was he really going to do it?!' She thought. 'His fingertips grazed mine..' Just then the school bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom yanking her out of her thoughts. 'But.. he was really going to wasn't he.. I shouldn't have pulled away..'


	16. Speculations

It was finally time for lunch and ___ was excited. 'Finally! I'll get to eat the lunch that dad packed!' Yamaguchi entered the classroom and walked up to her and Tsukkishima. "Do you guys wanna eat outside like we normally do?" He asked. ___ nodded. "What about you Tsukki?" "That's fine with me," Tsukkishima said as he put his things into his backpack. The trio walked out of class and down the hallways, finally arriving at the gym. They sat down on the steps.

"Finally! Lunch time!" She cheered. "What are you so excited about?" Yamaguchi asked. "Got something good for lunch?" "Well, I haven't exactly checked yet, but I have a feeling it's leftovers from yesterday." She said excitedly as she pulled her lunchbox out of her bag. She slowly opened it. "Yes!" She cheered. "It is leftovers from yesterday!" She grabbed her chopsticks and popped a slice of the frank into her mouth. "Mmm! So good! My dad really is the flame master!" Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi laughed as they ate their lunches.

"So do you guys know what you're doing for practice tonight?" ___ asked. "Not a clue," Yamaguchi said. "Tsukki?" "I have no idea either," he said as he took a bite of his onigiri. "Hopefully it's something interesting." ___ said as she continued to eat her lunch. "Coach seems to be on a practice game kick lately, so maybe it'll be another one?" She suggested. "That or receiving drills," Tsukkishima said. "It's been awhile since we've done those." "He wants us to focus on total defense for nationals," Yamaguchi added. "Total defense.. That sounds kind of badass!" She said.

"It'll be really helpful," Tsukkishima said. "We have a pretty strong offense with Hinata and Kageyama's quick attack and Asahi's powerful spikes already, not to mention Tanaka's skills too, so balancing our strategies between offence and defense would be extremely beneficial." 

"I'll bet two of dad's hamburgers saying that there's another practice game today." ___ said chewing her franks. "I'll bet three onigiri that it's serving drills," Yamaguchi said chewing his food. "Two kebabs saying it's receiving drills." Tsukkishima said. "You guys are on!" ___ said as she worked on finishing her lunch. "These are all great speculations. May the best man win." "Or woman," Yamaguchi said. "Oh, right.." ___ laughed. "Sometimes I just feel like one of the guys."

"You're too pretty to be a guy," Tsukkishima said. "What?" ___ said nearly dropping her rice ball. "Nevermind!" Tsukkishima quickly said blushing intensely. Yamaguchi laughed. "Anyways, this is a fun bet. The stakes are high with ___'s father's cooking on the line." "You're not wrong.." ___ said swallowing. "He is the self proclaimed flame master after all.." "I don't know about just being self proclaimed.." Yamaguchi said. "I think he earned the title fair and square." Tsukkishima added. "He loves fire and he tames it perfectly," Yamaguchi said. "Yeah, I guess you're right.." ___ said as she finished her lunch. "I'll give him that."

Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima quickly finished their lunches as well and the lunch bell rang. "Well, shall we get back to class?" Yamaguchi asked. "We should hurry," Tsukkishima said. "We have that English test right after this." Yamaguchi groaned. "Don't remind me.." he said. "I suck at vocabulary.." "You and Hinata.." ___ said laughing. "How did you know Hinata sucks at vocabulary?" Tsukkishima asked. "He asked me to help him study the other day," ___ said as she closed her lunchbox. "He really does suck." "At least you don't suck as bad as Hinata," Tsukkishima said grabbing his bag, placing his lunchbox inside.

The three stood up and began walking. "You're not wrong," Yamaguchi said. "Hinata isn't the best with his studies." "That's why I'm helping him." ___ said. "Coach would absolutely lose it if he flunked any of his spring finals." "That's nice of you to help him," Yamaguchi said. "Yeah, well I figured I might as well since you guys don't want to help him." ___ said laughing. "Someone aught to." "He just slows us down." Tsukkishima said. "Well, he is bad.." ___ admitted. "But that's exactly why he needs the help."

"Thanks for helping him," Yamaguchi said. "Tsukki refuses to, so it's nice that you're doing it." "Need I remind you that I tried helping him?" Tsukkishima said. "It's not my fault he doesn't get it." "Tsukki.. that's mean.." ___ said. "Not everyone is as smart as us.." "Well, this is my stop," Yamaguchi said hanging in the doorway of his classroom. "I'll see you guys at practice." "See ya!" ___ said with a wave. "Bye." Tsukkishima said. They continued walking.

___ and Tsukkishima arrived at their classroom and entered, taking a seat. ___ set her bag down and began grabbing her things out of it. "Hey Tsukki, you wanna go over some vocabulary?" ___ asked. "What for?" Tsukkishima asked. "You know we both got this in the bag." "Just in case," ___ said. "We might as well." "Fine.." Tsukkishima said. ___ grabbed her flash cards. "Alright, let's do this!" She said. She held up a card. "Definition?" She asked. "Altruistic. Adjective. Meaning: Showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the the well-being of others. Next." Tsukkishima said. "Perfect." ___ said. She flipped to the next card. "Contaminated." "Contaminated. "Adjective. Having been made impure by.." 

Just then the bell rang. "Well, I guess that's that." ___ said putting her flashcards away. Just then the teacher entered the classroom. "Alright class, It's time for your English test. Everyone take out your pencils and I will begin passing out the tests. Everyone keep your tests face down until I say to flip them." He began to pass out the tests before returning to the front of the classroom. "You may begin." He said, and ___ flipped her test. ___ was lost in thought. 'I'm still feeling confident,' she thought. 'I'm going to do it. I'm going to confess to him tonight after practice.' And with that thought she began her test. 'I have to.'


	17. A Not So Perfect Confession

__ won the bet, but that was the last thing on her mind. After practice she grabbed Yamaguchi's sleeve. "Hey Yamaguchi, can I talk to you for a bit?" ___ asked. "Of course!" Yamaguchi said. "Let's go outside." She said. She started walking out the doors and Yamaguchi followed her. She walked a ways away from the doors to the side of the gym. "This is good." ___ said. "It's already dark outside," Yamaguchi mused, "So what did you need to talk about?" 

"I.. I think I'm ready to confess.." ___ said. "Really?! That's great news!" Yamaguchi said giving her a hug. "I know, I know, I took forever to work up the nerve." She laughed. "But the thing is.. I need to practice." "Practice?" Yamaguchi asked. "Yeah, practice." ___ said. "I need to practice my confession, so I can do it right." "What can I do to help?" Yamaguchi asked. "Let me practice with you." ___ said. Yamaguchi nodded. "Of course."

___ took a deep breath and grabbed Yamaguchi's hands. "Here goes nothing.." she said. "Yamaguchi, ever since I met you, I knew that I cared about you. Everyday we spent together was magical, and the more I got to know you, the more I fell for you." She took a deep breath. "Ever since we were kids, I knew what I wanted, and that was to be by your side, forever." She blushed. "And that's why.. I love you."

Just then she heard a noise behind her. She whipped her head around. It was Tsukkishima standing a few feet away. "So that's how it is.." he muttered turning away. "Tsukkishima wait! You misunderstood!" She grabbed his sleeve. "Tsk.." He said trying to shake her off.

"Tsukkishima, you're a big, stupid, blockheaded dummy!" she yelled. "and that's why I.. I love you!" Tsukkishima paused. He turned around and looked into her eyes, searching for the truth in her words. With one look he could tell she was telling the truth, and his heart jumped in his chest. "This isn't how I wanted this to go," she said. "That's why I was practicing with Yamaguchi." She sighed.

Tsukkishima turned around and pulled her into an embrace. "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to hear those words.." he whispered holding her close. Yamaguchi smiled softly, taking this as his signal to leave. His work here was done. He left knowing that things were finally right. His two best friends were finally sharing their feelings for eachother, and he couldn't be happier. "And so their love story begins," he whispered to himself. He turned and began walking away.

"I've loved you ever since we were kids," "Tsukkishima said softly. "I was going to tell you right before you left, but I was scared you'd tell me you loved me too." "Being away from you killed me," ___ whispered. "Your bracelet gave me strength to continue on. I spent day after day scowering online, searching for jobs in Japan for my father until finally one day I found one. I had to find my way back to you, even if it took years."

Tsukkishima pulled away slightly. "I believe this is where I kiss you," he said. He leaned down and slowly drew his lips closer to hers before finally closing the distance. The kiss was soft at first, but filled with all the love and passion of years being apart, years of suppressed emotions and yearning for one another. ___ pulled back to take a breath, only to be brought back in to the sweet kiss before pulling away once again. She looked into his eyes.

"I had no idea you felt the same way," she whispered. "If Yamaguchi had just told me.." "If Yamaguchi had told me.." Tsukkishima whispered. "We would have been together the moment you came back.." "The moment I came back.." they whispered at the same time. "She smiled. "He always knew, didn't he?" Tsukkishima asked. "He gave me the courage to confess," she said. "He convinced me to come back to you, to say goodbye before you left, and to give you the bracelet he helped me make." Tsukkishima said.

"We owe him a lot." ___ said smiling. "He's a good friend." "We owe this all to him." Tsukkishima said. ___ wrapped her arms around Tsukkishima's neck and pulled him closer. "We'll be sure to thank him," she said, "But for now, let's cherish this moment." She pulled him in for another kiss. This kiss was more intense than the last, and she could feel sparks flying in her brain. 'This is it,' she thought. 'This is what love feels like.' She couldn't help but smile into the kiss.

The kiss got more intense, and Tsukkishima held her close, not letting her escape. "Hah..___ breathed. 'Now this is a kiss!' she thought. The two continued kissing for awhile before ___ pulled away, feeling the need to breathe. "That was.." "Amazing." Tsukkishima finished. "Let's do it again." ___ said pulling him close. They kissed again and again before pulling away. "It's getting late," Tsukkishima said. "Let me walk you home." "But I don't want to go home yet." ___ said defiantly. "Well that's just too bad." Tsukkishima said grabbing her hand. They began to walk.

"Do we have to?" ___ complained. "You'll see me tomarrow." He said as they passed the park. "But I want to see you now." She said. "You are seeing me now." He replied. "Well I want to see you longer." They were now approaching her house. "Stay the night." She said. "But your dad's home.." Tsukkishima said noting the car in the driveway. "The one damn time he actually comes home.." ___ mumbled. "Tomarrow night?" She asked. "Maybe." He said. They walked up her steps.

"I believe this is where I kiss you goodbye," he said leaning down. "But I don't want to say goodbye!" ___ yelled. "Shh.." he said leaning down, capturing her lips with his. He pulled away. "Better?" He asked. "A bit.." she said. "But I still don't want to say goodbye.." "Don't make me call your dad." Tsukkishima said laughing. "You wouldn't!" ___ said taken aback. Tsukkishima put his finger to the doorbell. "Your right, I wouldn't call him, but I would do this." He pressed the doorbell. "You are so mean!" She yelled punching him in the shoulder. He gave her one last kiss. "I'll see you tomarrow." He said giving her a hug. "See you tomarrow.." she mumbled. 

Her father opened the door and she stepped inside. He said goodbye to Tsukkishima before closing the door behind her. "Spill it!" He said. "Spill what?" She asked. "Don't pretend like you weren't kissing Tsukkishima! Now spill it girlie!" "Wait, you saw us?!" ___ cried out. "When you screamed 'I don't want to say goodbye'," he said mimicking her whiney voice, "I looked out the window only to find you two making out a second later." ___ blushed.

"So spill and I'll give you tacos!" He said leading her to the kitchen taking a seat at the island. "But!" She protested. "Tacos," he said in a sing song voice. "Fine.." she muttered in defeat. "It all started when I confessed to Yamaguchi.."


End file.
